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Strategy 3 - The Dark Legions
The Dark Legions, V1.1.0.5
Mascot Entertainment, copyright 2004
Walkthrough written by Caurador
Lasted updated 31 Oct 10
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Introduction
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This game may be referred to as "The Dark Legions", "Strategy 3: The Dark
Legions", or "TDL". It is Mascot's first RTS (Real Time Strategy) game, or at
least the first one that is still available. It was followed in 2008 by
"BC Kings".
TDL centers on harvesting three kinds of resources, putting up buildings, and
researching technology. That is all used to train an army to conquer your
enemy. On a full third of the mission maps (4 of 12) you don't put up any
buildings (although one has you make a single Keep) or train any troops.
Another level has you train troops from an ally's Barrack, but you don't
buildanything yourself.
Unfortunately, you can't change the difficulty in Campaign mode, and its
replayablity suffers after completing Campaign mode a few times. One
significant positive point is that the game is cheap compared to mainstream RTS
titles. However, that price also means less development and playtesting.
Additionally, there is not an option for turning off the Fog of War, which is
my least favorite part of any RTS. Doubly so since the Fog doesn't hamper the
computer in any way.
Mascot's other RTS, BC Kings, is superior to this one in many ways. The best
reason to choose TDL over BC Kings is if you prefer a medieval theme to a
prehistoric one.
This guide is written with the expectation that you have played other RTS
games. While I do mention concepts that are applicable to any RTS, the main
focus is on TDL.
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Table of Contents
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TDL1 Game Information
TDL2 Definitions and Basic Concepts
TDL3 Mission Walkthrough
TDL4 Instant Actions
TDL5 Building Details
TDL6 Unit Details
TDL7 Technology/Research Details
TDL8 Codes
TDL9 Special Unit Details
I have divided these main sections into subsections, and the subsection
contents can be found at the start of each section. Some are further
subdivided, and the contents are at the start of the subsection.
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TDL1 Game Information
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TDL1.1 Game Modes
TDL1.2 Unit Information
There is no manual I can find for this game, so I've compiled some essential
info here.
Going by the directions described within the missions, the NW corner of the map
points between the amounts of stone and gold resources. The NE corner is just
below the scroll icon for the "In Game Menu" button.
The game has various hotkeys that can be used to speed things up, and it
appears to be designed with the expectation that they are used. Different
buildings and units have different hotkeys, though the only ones I've found
worth remembering are the ones for buildings and military units.
Fortunately, it's easy enough to learn what each one is. When you mouse over
anything that has a hotkey associated, the letter is yellow instead of the
normal white.
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|TDL1.1 Game Modes
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The game has two different modes. One is Campaign, which has three sub modes:
the Tutorial, the Missions (labeled "Devastating King Frank Kalap"), and
Instant Actions.
The tutorial is a simple triple sequence that you should go through simply to
learn how to do things in TDL. The Missions are the main meat of the game, and
are covered in section TDL3. The Instant Actions are somewhat like a
second set of Missions, but don't have a connecting story line.
The other mode is Random Game, which is what keeps the game playable after
you've been through the Campaign mode multiple times. You can select from a
large variety of options including difficulty level, how many players are on
the map (up to 7 computer controlled players), as well who is allied with who
else.
Each player starts with a Keep, 5 Slaves, resources determined by the Resource
Level, and harvestable resources determined by the number of players you
select. You win these games by completely eliminating all of your opponents. If
you don't want to use the map reveal code elsewhere, use it on one of these
just to watch how quickly and efficiently the computer can do things.
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|TDL1.2 Unit Information
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Details Pane
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The long pane below the mini-map shows details of selected units.
When multiple units are selected, it shows a picture of each one, and a colored
health bar.
When a single unit is selected, there is a picture of the unit, along with a
colored bar showing its health, and a number reading of current and maximum HP.
There will be the unit name, and who owns it. Below that are the values denoted
by a sword, archery target, and shield.
The sword is a measure of the units' attacking power. Any bonuses are shown
with a +X in yellow.
The archery target has two values, separated by a slash. The first is the
attack range of the unit. A range of 1 means it's a melee unit. The second
number is the sight range. The unit will reveal the map and fog of war that far
away. Depending on the bonus, increases may directly alter the numbers, or they
could be shown with a +Y in yellow.
The shield has three values separated by slashes, and all are percentages of
damage reduction. The first value is resistance to melee attack. The second is
resistance to ranged attack by Archers and Crossbowmen. The third is resistance
to Catapult attacks. Any bonuses directly increase the values.
If you have a single transport selected, it will also show any unit(s)
currently on board.
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Action Pane
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The small pane below the details pane contains actions that the selected
unit(s) can perform. If you mix different types of units, you get the military
action set, even if they are all non-military units.
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Stance
-----
There are three stances you can assign to military units.
"Aggressive" is like an attack dog off the leash. They'll attack any enemy unit
or building in their sight, and will pursue fleeing units until death. Then
they stay wherever they end up, and look for another enemy.
"Defensive" means they'll attack any enemy unit or building in their sight, and
will pursue fleeing units for a limited distance. If the unit reaches its range
limit, it will turn around and go back to its starting point. If the target is
killed it may go back, or it may stay where it is.
"Stand Ground" means the unit will do nothing you don't specify. If you use
this on a unit that's engaging an enemy, it will continue with the stance it
was in until the conditions of that stance are fulfilled.
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TDL2 Definitions and Basic Concepts
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TDL2.1 Terms
TDL2.2 Useful Information
TDL2.3 Mascot-specific Information
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|TDL2.1 Terms
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Resource notation - I use the first letter of the resource immediately
following the amount, so "100W 200S 50G" means 100 units of Wood, 200 units of
Stone, and 50 units of Gold.
Theo - Theodoric's nickname in this guide. You (in the persona of Theodoric)
are a heavy hitter with lots of HP, and you regenerate. Use yourself liberally
wherever you can do it safely.
Bowmen - This refers to both Archers and Crossbowmen collectively.
H2H - Hand to hand. This covers all melee (non-ranged) soldiers.
Foot - This refers to all non-mounted soldiers.
RA - This is an acronym for "Rush Attack". It's a typical feature of RTS games,
and is the prime threat in TDL.
Decoy - The practice of using 1-5 units to move through an enemy base and cause
most of the enemy troops to follow them. Not all of the enemy will chase the
decoys until their death, and it works better if one or more troops attack
something while in the base. I don't use this tactic, but you can.
BAK - This is an acronym for "Bait and Kill", an essential tactic on some maps.
The idea is to send a single unit (normally Theo) set to "Stand" to lure a
small number of enemy troops away from their current position. When they are
far enough away that the other troops won't assist, you turn around and kill
them.
Ping - This is the same concept as BAK, but you use a bowman and an ambush
party instead. Attack an enemy unit or structure, and lead the pursuing troops
into the ambush.
Basic Trio - Also called a trio, it's the standard set of foot soldier
training. It consists of one H2H unit (which should always be the Warrior until
you can train Knights), and two bowmen (usually the most advanced kind you can
build on the map).
Combat Group- 8 Basic Trios, and an extra bowman. That's normally 8 Warriors
and 17 Crossbowmen (25 total).
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|TDL2.2 Useful Information
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Save the game very often. I suggest having one save at the very beginning of
the map (I label it "Start"), one just before the end (which I creatively call
"End"), and at least three (which I label numerically) to alternate between in
the level. The autosave can be helpful, but if you suddenly realized you did a
bad thing a while ago, having multiple saves in the level can rescue you from
replaying the whole thing.
Guard Towers cannot attack units that are too close to them. You can exploit
this by sending H2H troops to attack towers. Just make sure there are no
defenders waiting to sally forth and engage them.
It costs resources to repair buildings, ships, and Catapults. It does not cost
resources for units to be healed by a Priest, or for Undead to regenerate.
-----
Use Your Slaves Well
-----
Generally, you want to get your Slaves chopping wood right away. You also want
to train a large number (20-30 on most maps) to gather resources. If you don't
have resources, you can't build or train anything new. It's much better to
start with a large number of Slaves than too few. You can always kill them
yourself, or send them off to reveal parts of the map you don't want to send
troops to reveal.
Keep Slaves busy harvesting resources rather than walking around. If Slaves are
walking to a drop-off point for more than 2 seconds, build a Warehouse closer
to the harvesting. You can always tear it down for a half refund, and throwing
away 30W per Warehouse could net you hundreds of extra resources in the same
amount of time.
If you build a Warehouse right in front of a gold mine, you can place one Slave
between the mine and the Warehouse to have it mine gold very quickly, and
likely won't run into gold shortages. You may need to individually place the
Slave, as the computer doesn't evaluate efficiency. Simply clicking on the mine
could cause the Slave to take an unnecessarily long walk. You can use two
Slaves instead, but any more and they will have to do _some_ walking. Even so,
there are maps (such as Mission 11) where you want 4 or 5 Slaves at a gold
mine.
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You Have to Spend Time
-----
It takes time to build things, train troops, and perform research. The vast
majority of these tasks have a base time of 5, 9, 14, 28, and 56 seconds, with
16 of 55 technologies taking more than 28 seconds. I've listed the specific
times along with the information in each Details section (TDL5-TDL7). Still,
some things take a really long time, so be aware of the ones below.
Long (almost 1 minute)
Stronghold research
3rd Level Blacksmith research
Advanced Ironwork
Explosives
Double Oars
Binoculars
Armored-Wood
Exploding-Shot
Very Long (over 2 minutes)
2-Barrel Cannon
Anger of God
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Mystery Can Be Good
-----
I reveal a great deal about how the AI works in practice. Reading this guide
before you complete the Campaign Mode might rob you of the joy of finding these
things out for yourself. While I still enjoy the game enough to write an FAQ
for it, I know some people prefer to figure those things out for themselves. If
you are such a person, you should consider saving the rest of this section and
TL3-TDL4 until you've completed the game; or until you get to a Mission/Instant
Action you just can't beat. TDL5-TDL9 shouldn't spoil your journey of
discovery, since most of that is statistics on units, buildings, and
technology.
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|TDL2.3 Mascot-specific Information
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The Mind Trick
-----
As in "Jedi Mind Trick", it's an exploitation of the AI scripting, and one that
affects your units as well. Fortunately, you are sentient enough to do
something about it if you notice it when it happens. The visible attack range
and sight range of the units aren't the only ones. There seem to be two more
categories for the AI, the engage range and perceive range.
The engage range, which is larger than the sight range, is the range in which
an enemy building or unit is in their protection; troops will respond to your
unit(s) attacking anything in that range. The perceive range is the limit of
what the AI lets them be aware of, unless the script tells them to do
otherwise.
Between those ranges is a magic zone. If you attack something outside their
engage range, but WITHIN their perceive range, they get mind-tricked. When that
happens, it becomes possible to attack something within their engage range,
WITHOUT a response from them! Occasionally, the best you can do is to greatly
reduce the number of responding units. Please note that this requires ranged
units. H2H units will break the enemy loose of the trick, and they will attack
normally.
This trick is most useful on things the AI normally will not rebuild, such as
Walls (and Guard Towers in the Missions), but can be used on anything. You
could even destroy a Barrack surrounded by troops without them flinching.
You should never pause, save, or load when in the process of attacking with
this trick. However, saving just prior to the trick is often essential. Several
reloads may be necessary for you figure out how to finesse a particular
situation. Remember, EACH time you successfully Mind Trick, make a new save
game (don't just overwrite the last one). That way you don't accidentally
overwrite a save you wanted to go back to.
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Too Many Decisions
-----
There is one significant defect with the coding. The program can become
overwhelmed if the number of units needing decisions gets too high (above
50-ish active units, such as harvesting Slaves). It seems to have a greater
impact on your combat units versus your enemy's, but affects Slaves most of
all. This doesn't become overtly noticeable until Mission 9, but can affect any
map. It's a real problem on Mission 11, but fortunately Missions 10 and 12 (the
final one) don't have enough units to make an impact.
Sometimes Slaves simply stop working for no apparent reason. Your combat units
also seem to get short sighted, so that enemies have to be much closer than
normal to activate their combat scripting. On top of that, they move in fits
and stops, often letting enemy units run right past them. Most frustrating of
all, this happens even when you're actively directing the units.
Sometimes you can benefit from this, but not in any reliable way. If you kill a
Slave that is going after some resource, the computer trains another and
sometimes sends it to exactly the same place. If you are able to kill a group
of Slaves quickly, some of the new Slaves that the computer trains could get
stuck when they come out of the Keep. If that happens, they just stand there
doing nothing until something unsticks them (which could be getting injured).
-----
Whose House?
-----
The tutorial tells you that you need to have enough houses, or your people will
starve. In game terms that simply means they become extremely easy to kill.
However, this isn't completely accurate.
Each Mission or Instant Action needs scripting for that to happen. There are
several Missions where you don't have any houses, but you're not penalized for
that. In at least one case, the scripting to make enemy troops weak without
Houses is missing, so they don't suffer the penalty either. In other Missions,
there are Houses that you simply can't get to (at least until you've beaten
that enemy). Only in Mission 2 is destroying Houses actually a viable strategy.
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TDL3 Mission Walkthrough
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TDL3.1 Mission 1 - The Beginning
TDL3.2 Mission 2 - The Two Islands
TDL3.3 Mission 3 - Retake Wortheone Part 1
TDL3.4 Mission 4 - Retake Wortheone Part 2 (Retake Storpeek)
TDL3.5 Mission 5 - The Fellowship
TDL3.6 Mission 6 - Enter the Dragon
TDL3.7 Mission 7 - The Dragon Mountains
TDL3.8 Mission 8 - Leaving Dragon Mountains
TDL3.9 Mission 9 - The High Treason
TDL3.10 Mission 10 - Up the River
TDL3.11 Mission 11 - Escape
TDL3.12 Mission 12 - Revenge
You will sometimes have more than one enemy on a map, so I will often refer to
them by the capitalized color they are, such as Red and Yellow. Other times I
may refer to them by the name of their owner, such as your primary enemy,
Frank.
I do not use cavalry unless I start the Mission with them, and I find using
decoys to rarely be helpful (except in Mission 8). However, if you would like
to use them, feel free. Just be aware of their limitations.
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|TDL3.1 Mission 1 - The Beginning
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This is a very basic opening map. Almost directly north of you are two Slaves
and 2 Warriors. Take the Warriors west with you, staying within sight of the
map edge until you've come all the way around to south of where you started.
That should leave just one Warrior for you to find, with Frank defeated.
Simply follow the Objectives to complete the Mission.
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|TDL3.2 Mission 2 - The Two Islands
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Population Limit: 64
TDL3.2.1 Your First Buildup
TDL3.2.2 Your First Assault
Note: The Mind Trick isn't needed here, but if you want to practice the
technique before you really do need it on Mission 8, feel free. It isn't easy
to master, and having the map revealed with the code will REALLY help you
learn how to do it right.
-----
TDL3.2.1 Your First Buildup
-----
Frank won't come after you on this map, so take all the time you want. Also,
you can easily build in the NE area (where you find the Catapults) without fear
of attack from enemy forces. Just make sure the area is cleared of opposition.
Train 10 Slaves and get to chopping wood. Don't forget the gold, but stone
mining probably isn't needed this time.
There is a ridge in the center of the map that runs from the east edge to near
the enemy walls in western part of the island. Carefully go around the western
tip, and get the Catapults in the NE.
Begin training basic trios until you're at the map population limit. Then queue
up all you can, until it says you can't anymore (a production building queue
will hold 28 unit requests at maximum). Now you'll have a fresh supply waiting
for you if somehow you lose a bunch of guys quickly. Create a combat group, and
assign a hotkey number. Save the game.
-----
TDL3.2.2 Your First Assault
-----
Using two Catapults, attack the towers near the entrance just north of the
ridge tip. Keep a Slave handy to repair them, especially since you can't
replace them on this map. Troops will sally out when you attack, but don't
engage them as they'll always turn around unless you're too close. Keep Theo in
front of the Catapults in "Stand" just in case any units do engage your
Catapults. Take out the two towers, then move on to the two towers near the
entrance just south of the ridge tip.
Now position your troops on the north of the ridge tip to provide support, and
BAK the troops between the two entrances. If you get into any trouble, pull
back to your massed troops. A little west of the southern entrance, there is a
tower. Take it out with Catapults, then bring your troops in and start
decimating everything between the Wall and the end of the peninsula. BAK the
defenders into an ambush to save troops. Make sure to take out the Houses, as
it makes killing the final troops MUCH easier. Next, head north, as there are
no Houses to the south.
There are three towers to be cautious of, but if you're taking out the Houses
like I told you, the troops that come after you won't be much problem. You can
do a little pinging if you want, but by this point you have more troops than
you'll need. Keep an ambush force between you and the Catapults. Take care with
the tower by the gate, and leave no House standing.
Now attack the last remaining Guard Towers in the south from the OUTSIDE. If
the troops that sally out get too close to your Catapults, engage them with
Theo. You can kill them quickly, and get away quickly. Since they have no
Houses, those guys will die very quickly, but the tower won't, and it's not an
easy kill.
With Frank slaughtered, you can easily build the 2 Docks and 4 Transports
required to complete the level.
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|TDL3.3 Mission 3 - Retake Wortheone Part 1
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Population Limit: 100
TDL3.3.1 Expand and Explore
TDL3.3.2 Break Through Enemy Lines
TDL3.3.3 Seek and Destroy
Once again, you don't have to worry about Frank coming after you. War Galleys
are scattered around the water, so you'll have to search for ways onto the main
island. By far the easiest way is to sail WSW from the NE corner of your map.
Also, there's an island in the NW with a bunch of Houses and towers. You can't
get to it without running a gauntlet of War Galleys, but it's the quickest way
to beat the level.
-----
TDL3.3.1 Expand and Explore
-----
First, build 10 Slaves, and get to chopping a bunch of wood. There is a gold
mine on the southern tip, and plenty of space for Houses once your Slaves clear
some of the trees. Build a few more when you have Houses to support them. Make
sure to build a Blacksmith so you can upgrade your weapons and armor. It's also
required to build Catapults.
In the SE corner of the map, marked by a yellow circle, is a Castle for you to
take, but the only safe way to get to there is to sail against the eastern edge
of the map. If you place a ship just SE of the Dock, you'll get through without
a problem. Sail there with anyone and activate the Castle, then build four
Catapults. Sail back to your base (again, against the eastern edge).
Next, build two more Transports, and fill them each with 5 trios, and an extra
Crossbowman. Send those to the Castle island. Put four Slaves on a ship and
sail back to pick up those 4 Catapults (you might have to wait a few minutes
for them to finish building). The Slaves can repair ships and Catapults when
needed (which it will be), and they can also build behind enemy lines, which is
the tactic we'll use here.
-----
TDL3.3.2 Break Through Enemy Lines
-----
Line up your ships on the southern coast of the Castle island, a troop ship
first, Catapults and Slaves in the middle, and a troop ship last. Save the
game, because this is tricky. You're going to run a gauntlet of two ships, one
of which is almost right against the map edge. Try to keep it as close to the
edge as you can without running into the ship, so you'll minimize the damage to
your Transports. If you can sail exactly west on the map, you should just clear
it. Those War Galleys won't chase you for long, but likely the first ship in
your convoy will be nearly destroyed by the time you get out of range. Of
course if you run into the southern ship, there's a good chance you'll need t
reload and try this again.
Continue along the edge until you see an indication of land. Put your least
damaged troop ship in front, and have it Un-garrison everyone. Your foot will
start attacking the tower right away, but it's best to load your bowmen back on
the ship, as your Warriors will destroy that tower easily on their own. Once
that's done, bring the Catapults in, and lay waste to everything on the island.
Strictly speaking, you don't need to go after the Houses, but it will only take
a couple of extra minutes.
-----Optional Harvesting
Meanwhile, your Slaves have probably exhausted all the resources on your tiny
island. You likely won't need more than that, but if you want to be sure, build
a ship, and 16 Crossbowmen. While they are training, send Theo to the main
island (sail WSW of the NE map corner). There are three soldiers inland a bit,
and one War Galley you'll pass to get to them. Take out the soldiers, and bring
over your bowmen to take out the ship. The Slaves follow, and you can start a
new harvesting operation here.
-----Resume the Attack
Back on the SW island, there is a ship near the lone tower on the north side of
the island, but your bowmen should be able to handle that with minimal losses.
Once that is gone, bring your ships around the west side of the island and to
the lowest spot on the north beach where you engaged the War Galley.
Load your foot, repair the Transports, and save the game. Send a troop ship
directly north, Un-garrison when you see land, and again pull your bowmen back.
Your Warriors will take care of the few troops and the lone tower here.
Have the rest of the Transports Un-garrison, and then build a Barrack west of
the gold mine, and a line of Guard Towers NW and SE of the mine. Max out their
Tower-Archer count (train 4 more in each Tower). Train enough troops to have
two full combat groups. Now, train trios until you reach your max, and then
queue up as many more as you can (28 total in the production queue).
Save the game.
-----
TDL3.3.3 Seek and Destroy
-----
Send a lone bowman east from the gold mine entrance, and you will find a
Barrack. Ping a convenient foot, then run back to your waiting ambush. Decimate
them, and repair your Guard Towers just to be thorough. Move a group up to
defend your Catapults as they take out the Barrack. Next, probe carefully,
destroying Guard Towers (but watch out for sally troops). MAKE SURE your Slaves
are repairing the Catapults. It's annoying to have to bring more up through
that gauntlet. There are 5 Guard Towers you'll have to take out to get to where
you can see and attack the Castle island, three more along the southern crater
rim, and yet another on the north rim you may want to destroy to avoid getting
into trouble.
Once you've got a decent foothold, start moving to the north. The gold mine is
what you want to find. Knock out the towers that keep you from it. Just east of
the gold mine are the Castle walls. You will have to take out the two towers
along it, and one Catapult that starts attacking you when you fire on the
Castle.
Just make sure you keep the Catapults defended with your troops (and repaired
with your Slaves), and you'll soon be victorious.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL3.4 Mission 4 - Retake Wortheone Part 2 (Retake Storpeek)
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Population Limit: 100
TDL3.4.1 Prepare Yourself
TDL3.4.2 Expand Your Domination
TDL3.4.3 Scatter the Enemy Forces
TDL3.4.4 Destroy Your Enemy and Complete Your Objectives
This time you will be rush attacked, and you don't have a lot of spare time.
-----
TDL3.4.1 Prepare Yourself
-----
Set your Slaves to harvesting wood, and train one more. Send your foot troops
to the north, until they get to the river, then go west. Catapults may slip by
your main force, and it's easy to lose a building before you get someone over
there. Move Theo and the Light Cavalry to a crossroads east of the two piles of
rocks at your base.
Next, use the spare Slave to build two Houses, train 10 more Slaves, and build
a Warehouse as close to the front of the gold mine as you can manage. Dedicate
one Slave to the mine, and forget about him. You shouldn't have to worry about
gold for the rest of the level.
Send Theo south along the path to seek stationed enemies, and BAK them. Be
careful, as it's easy to over-extend yourself. WARNING: There is a NW branch
that leads to a river crossing. Don't go there now, as it's filled with
enemies. Also, your opponent will attack from that way. Keep scouting east
until you've eliminated all the enemies on it. Likely, you'll be rushed before
you've completed that, so when you need to pause and heal, head back to your
base so you can get a little support.
During this process, keep harvesting wood, building Houses, and one Barrack
(two is a bit of a waste, but if you insist, go ahead). Research Crossbows, and
start turning out basic trios. Set the rally point in the crossroads east of
the pair of rock piles. That should provide good protection for your base, and
keep Catapults from slipping behind you. Keep a few troops on the west side by
the river just in case one does.
You're able to build Castles and Monasteries now, so build a Monastery and
train a couple of Priests ("buy" the Holy Scroll too). This will greatly
increase the life of your troops, and is a great substitute for a second
Barrack. The Priests only cost gold, which you should have in ample supply now.
-----
TDL3.4.2 Expand Your Domination
-----
You've got a few minutes between waves, so when you've got a good force and
have defeated the most recent wave, save the game and send Theo to start
BAK'ing the guards along the path to the river crossing. Be cautious, and if it
looks like another wave is coming, flee back to your troops.
Once you have 100 (I suggest 3 combat groups and 3 Priests), and the path to
the river crossing is clear, build 3 Guard Towers at the crossing. Two towers
go just to the sides of the crossing, and the third in the middle, as close to
the trees as you can get it. Upgrade them all so they have 5 Crossbowmen. Keep
a pair of Slaves close to repair the towers (I suggest on a hotkey grouping),
and the Priests to heal Theo and your troops. Now BAK the guards across the
river. There's not too many, but don't go far. Once you uncover the pile of
rocks, there's only one more small group nearby (a little east).
-----
TDL3.4.3 Scatter the Enemy Forces
-----
There's a group of Houses on an island you can't get to, so forget that
strategy here. Instead, seek the Barrack east along the path from the river,
and the Keep further near the eastern edge of the map. You can ping a foot by
the Barrack to thin their ranks. The Keep is well enough away from the towers
that you can send some foot to attack it without fear of the towers. If you
take the Keep out, and keep attacking the Slaves, they'll move to the west part
of the land. Make sure they don't sneak back east to build more buildings in
the semi-secured area (like a Barrack), and spread some guys out to make sure
you'll see it quickly when they try (bowmen are best because of their sight
range). Set those guys to "Stand", so they don't wander off and get killed or
leave gaps in your vision at critical times. It's best if you save Theo for
hunting Slaves and destroying piles of building materials.
Set the Barrack rally point to just this side of the river crossing, and make
sure to replenish the lost troops. Also, build a Castle (on Frank's side of the
river, if you wish) and churn out 5 or 6 Catapults.
-----
TDL3.4.4 Destroy Your Enemy and Complete Your Objectives
-----
When you're in good shape, send troops to locate new buildings in the north.
There are War Galleys off the coast, so watch out. You can take them out
quickly enough with archers, but you'll need to "Stand" them and gather them
on the coast, because they can't shoot through trees yet. Give top priority to
chasing and killing all the Slaves, and take out the Keep. Once all the Slaves
are dead, you can take more time getting to any production buildings that are
left.
Once all the other troops and production buildings are gone, watch out for
Catapults that will be sent out to attack you. The opening in the wall is
trapped, so don't send anyone through it. You'll have to take out the wall to
the west of it (the east is more problematic). Don't take out the last Wall
right next to the opening so you'll have a clear view of where the death zone
is. Be careful of the War Galleys off the shore on the north, east, and west of
the peninsula. Keep Slaves nearby to repair your Catapults, and take out the
towers. There are a total of four along the walls and another two by the
Castle. You have to build a Castle and Monastery where the enemy Castle is, so
you'll need to take out all the War Galleys and Catapults around here too.
Now just build a Castle and Monastery here. If you haven't trained 5 Priests
total, then do it now.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL3.5 Mission 5 - The Fellowship
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Population Limit: 0 (No Penalties)
TDL3.5.1 Find Allies
TDL3.5.2 Secure the Gates
TDL3.5.3 Destroy the Barrack
You don't build anything at all on this map. Be very careful with your units,
because aside from one set of reinforcements they're all you're going to get.
Use Theo as the primary unit here. Yellow has guards scattered throughout the
map, but Red only has them at the garrison, and the path leading directly to
it.
-----
TDL3.5.1 Find Allies
-----
Start out going east. Don't take the first north fork you find. There's nothing
but enemies there. The second north fork leads across the river, but don't take
it yet. Continue east, BAK'ing until you get to another fork. Again, the north
fork has only enemies. BAK troops near and in the east fork, where you'll find
a defense scroll (+35% armor).
Go back to the fork that leads across the river. On the other side is yet
another fork guarded by enemy troops. You can see from the mini-map that a red
marker lies at the end of that road (it's Red's Barrack). You might as well BAK
these guards now.
Go west, and "Stand" all your foot to sneak past another group of guards near a
3-branch crossroads. The south branch is the safe path to your ally, named
Follower, and the fresh troops he gives you. The troops you now have are all
you will have to work with for the rest of the mission.
-----
TDL3.5.2 Secure the Gates
-----
There are 3 paths from the village. Take the north one with Theo and the
Priest. You'll come to a clearing with another path going west. At the end of
that path is a offense scroll (Ranged units get +3 Att, +5 sight; your
non-Knight H2H get +4 Att). There's also a Priest, but you can't move him (he's
surrounded by rocks).
Now, move your Priest to the start of this path, set Theo to "Stand", and BAK
the first two Giants one at a time. It'll take several tries for each, even
with the Priest healing you during the fray. Be wary of the Giant furthest
right. It is set to Aggressive, and once it engages it will follow you over the
entire map. Bring up your Knights in a line, then send Theodoric to pound on
the Giant (with Priest help) until you're down to about 75hp. Then flee to your
Knights, and as soon as the Giant engages them, pounce back in to help finish
it off. With a little luck, you won't lose even one Knight. On to the Barrack.
-----
TDL3.5.3 Destroy the Barrack
-----
The troops at the Barrack seem generally set on "Defensive", so set your
Catapults to "Stand", and have one attack the tower you can see concealed
behind the trees. Keep Theo ready just in case some come through (with the
Priest, of course). There are two towers just inside the clearing, and you
should take out the tower on the west side first. Next you'll have to use
yourself for a little BAK. Be patient, and keep your Knights close by so you
can run back if you get swamped.
When you can't move any closer without the tower taking a shot at you, it's
time to bring in the Catapult. Watch out for a rush, and if you have to, pull
back and take out the rushers with your Knights. You've still got 2 more
Catapults if that one's lost. The enemy won't be training any more troops, so
this is strictly a battle of attrition. Be the victor.
Once the third and last tower is down, move Theo back, and rush in with your
remaining troops. You'll probably lose a few, but the depleted garrison doesn't
stand a chance. Once you destroy the Barrack, run Theo over to the gate the
Giants were guarding and finish the level.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL3.6 Mission 6 - Enter the Dragon
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starting Population Limit: 0 (No Penalties)
Allied Population Limit: 25
TDL3.6.1 Find Allies
TDL3.6.2 Secure a Foothold
TDL3.6.3 Explore and Conquer
This has got to be the most tedious level in the game. If you really get sick
of my strategy, you can switch to brute force tactics, but it won't be any
faster. The time it takes to train the troops you lose, then walk them around
to where they need to be comes out as slow in the long run. Using the killing
code on the Giants will really help move things along, but it gets very tedious
to use it on all the Undead.
This may look like the previous level, but it's not quite the same. This time
you actually do get to train troops. There are 7 chests scattered in the woods
with resources in them, and one of them is in sight of your starting point
(300W 200G). You don't get a Priest this time, so Theo should be the only one
fighting for a good long time. The BAK strategy works well here, but you can
also back Theo up with the Archers and Crossbowmen.
-----
TDL3.6.1 Find Allies
-----
Start by going east until you get to a point you can climb the ridge. There are
three Warriors here you can take out. Then keep going east, south around the
ruins. You'll find 3 Warriors and 3 archers guarding another chest (600W 500G).
Now go back to the climb.
At the top, DO NOT go north. There's nothing but a death trap down that way.
Instead, go south. There are troops you'll need to BAK, but eventually you'll
get to another chest(400W 300G), and better yet a climb to a Barrack of your
own! Just to the north of the Barrack is another chest (700W 600G). The trees
are extremely helpful here. You can put yourself close enough to have the 4
Crossbowmen and 2 Knights attack, but the trees block the shots! It helps to
use your own bowmen to kill the Knights that much faster. When you're ready,
bring Theo around to kill the Crossbowmen.
Continuing north, you'll come to another climb, but stay back as there are two
Giants at the top. Go down to the end of this ridge, where you'll find the last
chest before the Giants (400W 300G), guarded by 4 Knights and 3 Crossbowmen.
Again, the trees are very helpful, but you'll need to use your bowmen to help
Theo.
While you're fighting and waiting to heal, use the chance to train basic trios.
Set the rally point near the ruins SE of the climb with the Giants. It will
help you later when you need to create more troops.
-----
TDL3.6.2 Secure a Foothold
-----
Now you can tackle the Giants on the climb. Gather your troops between the
ruins and the trees. Heal up and save. You should do this before each pair of
Giants you kill (and after too).
If you position your bowman on the right, you can ping one Giant at a time.
Kill them both, then position your troops on the climb, and then send one
bowman south to ping the Giant. Once that one's dead, position your guys
at the top of the climb, and start pinging the Undead to the north. The Giant
will come after you (it's Aggressive), so take him out quickly. At the end are
3 Giants on Aggressive, but it could be worth it, as the chest at the end has
1000W and 1000G. That's enough for 16 Crossbowmen and one Warrior. You'll
probably lose half your Warriors and Knights, but that's okay. There are only
13 Giants left, and you should ping all of the Undead. The primary purpose of
H2H now is to keep Undead and Giants away from your more fragile bowmen.
To the south are two Giants, one Aggressive and one "Passive-Aggressive",
meaning it won't chase you all over the map, but once it gets tired it'll go
back to a new spot instead of the original (at least the first time). Back
down to the ruins area, ping the Giants, and kill the one that keeps on coming.
Then, go after the second one.
You can use the same kind of BAK strategy, just over much longer distances. I
prefer pinging these guys to BAK. Still, Theo provides much needed power to
take them down once they're in the ambush.
-----
TDL3.6.3 Explore and Conquer
-----
Now you come to an area that has a climb to a small area on the lower ridge.
There are a bunch of Undead and one Aggressive Giant there, but focus on the
current ridge. There are Undead to ping, then another pair of Giants. One
Aggressive, one Passive-Aggressive.
You'll need to take your troops to what I'll call the staging area. Back your
bowmen to the entrance of the clearing with the 1000W 1000G chest. Put your
Warriors and Knights just in front of them. Get one bowman, set him to "Stand",
and give him his own group. Put Theo (in "Stand") on the climb. Now you're
ready to ping the Giants one at a time. Then take care of the lower ridge area.
Next on the upper ridge is another bunch of Undead, and an Aggressive Giant.
Leave your troops where they are, ping the Undead, and wait for the Giant to
come.
Now move your pinger to the lower ridge, ping an Undead, and wait for yet
another Giant to chase him back to its death. Finally, move your bowmen up to
the climb to the lower ridge, and ping the Undead until they're gone. The
final chest (300W 200G) is hardly worth it.
-----The Final Gauntlets
Move your bowmen up, and deal with a horde (28) of Undead. I know pinging is
getting a little old by this point, but there are still 6 more Giants to deal
with. Now, move your group back to the staging area. Ping the Undead and yet
another pair of Aggressive/Passive-Aggressive Giants. More Undead follow.
Now you can use the back of this top ridge as a new staging area. Ping the lone
Giant, and take him down. Move your bowmen up to deal with the next to last
group of Undead. Next up is an Aggressive Giant, followed by the final group of
Undead and the final two Giants. If you ping the lead Giant, both will come,
and you can leave the Undead until last. Since there are no more enemies, and
the group is small, you can just save before sending your whole group to meet
them all at once.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL3.7 Mission 7 - The Dragon Mountains
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Population Limit: 0
TDL3.7.1 Free the Priest
TDL3.7.2 Find the Keys
This is a basic dungeon crawl. It's too hard to provide a lot of the details
you need, so I strongly suggest you use the map reveal code on this level. If
you insist on not doing that, fine. Start off by avoiding the hallway to the
west. There's nothing but enemies down there.
-----
TDL3.7.1 Free the Priest
-----
BAK'ing is pretty important here, as you don't get a Priest, so set Theo to
"Stand", and make your way to the north. The hallway will turn west, and have
one northern branch before turning south. Clear the southern hallway, and the
first bit of the hall branching east. Set your Knights to "Stand", and bring
them around to the Theo.
Ahead is a Giant, which you should have your Knights help kill. It guards a key
to the prison in the north, and 10 reinforcement Knights. Do not continue down
this hallway after you have freed those Knights.
Next, go back to the north hallway, and clear out the Undead. You'll find the
captive Priest, and an additional 10 reinforcement Knights. Once you enter the
room, the Priest will go to the doors automatically, so make sure there are no
enemies left to threaten him.
-----
TDL3.7.2 Find the Keys
-----
You need three keys to get to the exit, all in chests guarded by Demons. The
first is found in the center of the big room you enter. There is an ellipse of
trees, inside of which is the key. Station a "Stand"ing unit as close to the
Demons in the center as you can get. Then, you can walk Theo up there and get
the key. You might as well kill the Demons so they don't somehow surprise you
later.
The second key at the end of the hallway of the NW exit. To find the third,
take the first northern branch, following one turn until it ends. The key is
down the eastern branch.
The best way to get to the exit is to go back to the main room, and take all
your troops through the SW exit. There are Undead, and two Giants past the
final doors in the level. All of the other corridors and rooms contain
enemies you have no reason to fight.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL3.8 Mission 8 - Leaving Dragon Mountains
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TDL3.8.1 Outside Dragon Mountain
TDL3.8.2 Building the Stronghold
This is your first map with two enemies that train troops, but you fight them
individually. You also have different options available after you beat Yellow,
so this is kind of like two levels on one map.
-----
TDL3.8.1 Outside Dragon Mountain
-----
Population Limit: 50
-----Before the Alliance is Formed
This one is a problem, because while you start off with three Slaves, THEY
CAN'T BUILD ANYTHING! So you get one Barrack, and a maximum population of 50
(including you and a minimum of 1 Slave). To make up for this you are supplied
resources by the suppressed nation, so you can fight their war for them. You
get one Priest, and he's needed both at the front and home base, so group him.
Have your Knights and Cavalry defend your base, as the Knights are a lot
tougher than any troops you can churn out. Make SURE you keep them healed up,
as losing one can significantly affect your base defense, and hence your
front-line fight. Losing all of them will make things a lot tougher for you.
Yellow has 7 Houses on an island that you can't get to until after he's
defeated, so destroying Houses won't help here. On the plus side, the
suppressed nation will provide you with 5 Catapults, and they will replace any
that get destroyed. At least until you defeat Yellow. After that, you only get
one more thing from them....a Settler to build yourself a Keep. Oh, and you
absolutely must have a Slave alive to build that Keep, so keep one at your
base among the Houses so he stays alive. The other two should stay near the
Catapults to keep them in as good a shape as possible. There's technology
available at the Blacksmith. It's up to you whether you buy any of it now,
or after you ally with King Ludvig. I suggest after, as once you ally with him
you'll soon have a lot of resources to throw around.
Start by training trios until you run out of resources. When you run out,
cancel the last Warrior in the queue, and add one Crossbowman. The enemy won't
start rushing you until you run into King Ludvig, so you can use this time to
take out the troops they have stationed outside their walls. Gather all your
troops, and head south. When you get to the lake, go west until you see the
ocean. Now, head south until you see the enemy walls or troops. The walls run
straight east-west, and troops are stationed outside along the whole stretch.
Set up your ambush troops, and use Theo to BAK the guards you run into. Knights
and Cavalry are almost always Aggressive, but bowmen are probably defensive.
Work your way east until you find the corner of the walls. There will be tree
copses, and a SE path that leads to a number of Cavalry. BAK what you can, then
ping the Wall to bring out most of the remaining defenders. Once that's clear,
bring Theo, both Cavalry and the Priest up the path to within sight of the
towers. Send Theo in first, followed by the Cavalry. Then you can keep the
Priest within healing range until just before the first tower is destroyed.
When that is about to happen, pull the Priest back so he doesn't get hurt when
you move to the remaining tower.
Straight up (I mean on the monitor screen) there is another tower that only one
mounted unit can attack. Pull the Cavalry back, save the game, and send in
Theo. A couple of foot should wander over to respond, but not the whole
garrison. That's about all you can really do for now, so pull out. You could
try the Mind Trick now, but I recommend waiting until you're maxed on troops
and tech research.
Send everyone back to the enemy's side of the west tip of the lake, then send
your Cavalry, Knights, and three Warriors back to your base. Put the Warriors
along the mountain slope north of your base, two Knights behind the Barrack,
and the rest of the defenders in front. Set the rally point to where you are
gathered at the lake, bring up two Slaves in a grouping, and send the Priest
back to your base. Save the game and go meet King Ludvig of the suppressed
nation almost directly north of where you are gathered.
-----After the Alliance is Formed
He begs your help, and gives you five Catapults to command. You also get 1000
each of wood, stone, and gold. You get half that amount (500 of each) every
minute. Start building basic trios. The enemy will send an attack force about
15 seconds after you ally with King Ludvig, so be prepared. If you're gathered
on the west of the lake, they'll be coming from the east side, and they start
arriving just before your first shipment. Meet them at your base. Also, the
order of arrival is the Light Cavalry first, the Heavy, then the foot. With
some care, you can take them out without losing any troops.
Now set a combat group, have the leftover foot guard a Catapult, and bring
everything over to the gold mine in the clearing east of the towers you
destroyed. Take out a few trees that are a little towards the middle that
hamper movement. Put the foot group, Catapults, and Theo on "Stand", then move
them through the wall. Put Theo where the third tower you destroyed is, your
foot next to the Warehouse in the NE corner, and use your Catapult to clear a
couple of trees so you can attack the tower. Now bring the Priest up, and save
the game.
Next use the Mind Trick. "Defensive" your foot, and they'll attack the
Warehouse and Slaves, then your Catapults can attack the tower unmolested, and
you can "Stand" your foot. Once the tower is gone, look just south of where
it was for the Monastery. Mind Trick again, and take it out. With a little
caution, you can use the Mind Trick to take out the towers near the NW corner
of wall. To Mind Trick the troops around the Barrack so you can destroy it,
you'll have to send a bowman around to the north wall and attack a part of it
(but not too close). The AI will build another Barrack between the shore and
the NW corner of the wall.
-----Assaulting Yellow
Now comes the REALLY tough part. Multiple reloads, a little luck, and careful
management will be needed to really crack this thing. Make sure your rally
point is close to the walls, but far enough to keep your reinforcements safe.
Use a spare bowman to Mind Trick the western Barrack, so hopefully they won't
come after your troops attacking in the east. Bring your combat group over to
kill the Priests. Keep them on "Stand" until the last Priest goes down,
otherwise they'll just heal a good chunk of the damage you do. Then set your
group to "Defensive", and they'll turn their attention to the troops from the
destroyed Barrack (who are attacking them). Use Theo liberally, set him to
"Defensive", and just keep an eye on him.
You may need to pull your group back, as they tend to get distracted chasing
after Slaves that pass by them. Make sure to set your rally point inside the
walls now, and keep the fresh troops coming. Keep in mind they're automatically
"Aggressive", so try to shift-double-click on both kinds of foot, and set them
to "Defensive". If a couple wander too far, leave them until you're not swamped
with attackers.
Once you're in a decent position again, it's time to take it home. Mind Trick
to clear out any obstructing towers, then take down the Keep. Now you have to
rush. The Slaves inside the walls will try to build a new Keep, and that should
be close to where your troops are massed. Kill them before they can do it, and
keep killing them until the ones inside the walls are all gone. There's a good
chance you'll be rushed from one or both of the Barracks, so multiple reloads
are expected.
Now that the Slaves in the walls are dead, take out the ones in the NE corner.
Then send out scouts (I suggest bowmen on "Stand") to look for any random
Slaves out harvesting. The AI won't pull them back to build for a while, but it
would completely suck to be in the depths of a final assault only to have
troops from a surprise Barrack begin attacking your rear. Finally, you have a
tiny bit of breathing room. Build yourself up, set your groups and make sure
your troops are where they need to be. Now save again.
If the troops at the remaining interior Barrack didn't pounce on you, you'll
need to deal with them. First, Mind Trick both Barracks, and destroy the
interior one. Use the Mind Trick again, and BAK what you can of forces
remaining inside the wall. Get set up again and save once more. You'll need to
Mind Trick in at least two places to be able to successfully eliminate the
remaining towers. Then destroy the Barrack, and get set up for the final BAK
sequences here.
You may not have to eliminate all the Guard Towers and Catapults (or the
Castle) before King Ludvig declares victory, gives you the Settler, and cuts
ties. If you don't have enough resources by now (I had over 30,000 of
each), then just wait until you're ready.
-----
TDL3.8.2 Building the Stronghold
-----
Population Limit: 180
Once you defeat Yellow you get a Settler from King Ludvig, and can finally
build a Keep. I suggest a nice place by the coast. If you explore the map a
bit, a little north of the middle there's a coast that looks a lot like a
right angle. At the SE portion where it curves to the south is ideal to me.
Also, with the defeat of Yellow your maximum population has risen to 180.
-----Preparing for Red
Build your Keep, then proceed to build and research until you get a Dock. Make
a Transport Ship right away, load a Warrior on it, and send it to the SW corner
of the map. This is an island with Houses you can convert. There are two more
islands on the way with Houses from Red. Those are the only Houses he has on
the map, but that doesn't matter. Not only does this enemy NOT get weaker
without any Houses, his Warrior can easily kill one of yours in one-on-one
combat, and come most of the way to killing a second. The after action report
shows the second enemy researched 11 more technologies than I had available to
me. I'm uncertain of whether this was an intentional decision or not.
The only saving grace is that after all the resources are exhausted, the Slaves
will stand around doing nothing until something in the script activates them
(like being attacked). Then they jump into high gear, building all kinds of
things more quickly than a human player possibly could.
In any case, research and build 5 War Galleys. Red has an island in the NW
corner of the map. There are six War Galleys for you to take out, three on the
south side and three on the east side. Your War Galleys may accidently destroy
a House or two...that's okay as long as it's not many.
You should have a total of 7 Transport Ships and 8 Catapults, so build what you
need. Also, have 4 combat groups ready (8 Warriors, 17 bowmen each) and 8
Priests. Have 5 Slaves ready to board a ship also. You should build a Barrack
or two up here, and set the rally point for your original one close to the
shore.
-----Assaulting Red
You'll need to use your War Galleys to Mind Trick the enemy. The safest place
I've found is a wall just above the one that's directly east of the patch of
snow outside the Blacksmith, which is by the center of the N/S wall. It's not
quite in the center of two towers. A few troops will come out, but not like the
small flood that will if you hit the wrong section. I suggest using three War
Galleys on "Stand", and saving when they're in place. Keep reloading until only
three or four foot come out to harass you, then kill them. You should be able
to keep up the assault long enough to open a huge hole in the wall, as well as
taking out all three towers along the section.
If you run into problems, take your ships away and line some up by the southern
shore. Then use one of the eastern ships as an attack decoy to start your Mind
Trick again. Once you get a large section free of walls and towers, pull the
War Galleys back.
Now load your combat groups on 6 of the Transports, with the Catapults and
Priests going on the last one. Move the ships into position for landing, and
our War Galleys to provide attack distractions. Save your game.
-----Complete Your Objective
Have the War Galleys begin firing, then send all 6 ships to the shore,
Un-garrison, and wreak havoc. You will likely have a very hard time taking the
whole island, but you don't need to do that. Send a Transport back for your 5
Slaves, and bring them over. All you have to do now is clear a spot somewhat
near the "Fountain of Brightness" to build a Fortress (the upgraded Keep). Once
that's done, this double mission is over.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL3.9 Mission 9 - The High Treason
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Population Limit: 200
TDL3.9.1 Into the Thick of Things
TDL3.9.2 After the Kromborgs are Defeated
This is your second double enemy mission, and you'll need to face a limited
number of Red while you're dealing with King Ludvig Kromborg.
-----
TDL3.9.1 Into the Thick of Things
-----
On this map you're right next King Ludvig's fortification, which will turn
hostile about 33 minutes into the mission, so a fast buildup is critical. Don't
bother exploring until after you defeat your traitorous ally. For one thing,
there's lots of Bombermen out there. For another, that's time you need to use
to build up your base and forces.
You begin the level surrounded by enemies and under attack. You start with
Theo, 3 Light Cavalry, 3 Warriors, 6 Crossbowmen, and 5 Slaves. You need to
zoom out, select everyone, and move them to the west side of your Barrack.
Sure, you'll get the Slaves in there too, but that's okay. You could try
directing the whole group, but I find it's best if you simply let them fight
alone. You could direct Theo to the bowmen if you like.
Once the surprise force is dead, get your Slaves to start repairing the
Barrack, and train Slaves until you reach your current population limit of 25.
Build a Warehouse near the stone pile and trees to the NW of your base. Focus
on the trees in front of the gold mine until you have space to put down a
Warehouse, and then dedicate two Slaves to mine gold.
Meanwhile, take two Slaves south of your Barrack. You'll find a hill and a
line of trees. Just past that you'll find more trees and another hill. Between
the hills (even with the trees in the way) is a great spot to build Houses that
are out of the way. Frank will normally ignore Houses, unless they are in the
way. You can easily fit 10 in this valley (and with a little effort 15)
without spilling out into the path.
Start training basic trios, and train 7 more Slaves. Send 5 to chop wood
near your Keep, and have two mine at the stone pile by the gold mine. Build
another Barrack so you can get a high unit number more quickly.
Don't forget there's a lot of research options in the Blacksmith and Keep.
One of those is the path to build an Alchemy. Research that and train 3 Slaves
to build it (Rather, train 3 Slaves to replace the wood choppers you use to
build it). Research Engineering and build a Monastery. Churn out 3 or 4
Priests. They'll come in handy later. When you get time and space, build a
Castle and turn out 5 Catapults.
Keep those extra Slaves busy chopping wood, and make sure they don't have
to travel too far to drop it off. If Slaves are walking for more than 2
seconds, build a Warehouse closer to the trees they're chopping. You can always
tear it down for a half refund when you need it. Throwing away 30W per
Warehouse could net you hundreds extra when you have more time to chop.
With the Slaves chopping wood near your Keep, you might have space for
more Houses, which means a higher population limit. You want to get to a
population limit of 200 as quickly as you can without neglecting chopping,
research, and training. Then you want to get a population near that limit too.
-----Preparing for the Kromborg Betrayal
When you get near that limit, start moving most of your troops to surround
the Kromborgs. Pay special attention to the Slaves. These guys will run around
and build buildings all over the place. You can easily find yourself destroying
the same buildings in several places. If you've got a large enough force, make
them concentrate on the Slaves and ignore combat units attacking them. The
units are a finite threat, but Slaves building more unit-producers (and worst
of all a Keep), is the long term threat. The Slaves are the backbone of your
enemy's war machine. Once they're gone, you can handle the units and remaining
buildings at a more reasonable pace.
Your main enemy will rush you several times before the betrayal, with
increasingly deadly units. In my experiences, the last attack before the
betrayal (just a few minutes) has a Bomberman. However, this might not be an
intentional warning device. Once you beat that rush, immediately focus on the
impending betrayal. Queue your Barracks to crank out basic trios. Also, the
Kromborgs really like to send Slaves west over the ridge by the gold mine. You
can set up a strike force, and set them to "Stand". When the enemy Slaves go
there to build, kill them. Chase them all around, so they don't continue
causing you problems.
-----
TDL3.9.2 After the Kromborgs are Defeated
-----
Once you finally beat the traitors, pull your troops back to your base, and
form three combat groups. Keep the rest at your base, because you might be
rushed from the NW path. Walk south out from your base, and you'll come to a
large stone pile near a crossroads. The one continuing south goes to a bridge,
and you should send one group there. The one going SW branches a few times, but
ends up at another bridge, where you send a second group. The third follows the
SE path.
Keep in mind there are Bombermen all around, and at least one is on each path.
Send a couple of fodder troops along, and at least one Priest with each group;
two with the SE group, as that will be the main point of conflict.
-----Assault Red
Make sure you have a few Catapults in good shape, and when you have them to
spare, form another combat group and send them to the SE bridge. You'll go
through several during this process. When you have four or five groups there,
make sure your other bridge positions are secure and fully manned, then send a
bowman onto the SE bridge to reveal a Barrack and ping a foot there. Once
you've healed from the ambush, start pushing across the bridge.
Send two combat groups in, past the bridge. Then, bring your 4 Catapults in to
destroy the two towers. There's another tower before you come to a line of
them. Now try to find and kill all the Slaves in the area. There are Priests, a
Monastery, two Castles, and two Barracks you'll need to take out as you find
them. Just keep on top of your groups, direct them to specific targets when
needed, and gather them together when needed. Largely, you should expect to
lose half or more of your troops in the first few minutes after you cross the
bridge, so make sure your two Barracks are queued to make basic trios, and
their rally points are by the SE bridge.
When you reach a line of towers with a wheat field just beyond, pull back and
gather everyone. Check the area to make sure there are no Slaves now (a few
more will likely come from the west soon), make sure the Priests are close to
heal everyone, and reassign your combat groups so they're properly filled out.
Bring in extra troops so you have at least three combat groups. You can scroll
over the map to try finding any new structures that have sprung up. That means
a Slave slipped by. Find the Slave, kill it, and destroy what it built.
When you're ready, use the Catapults to destroy all three towers. Move north,
and destroy three more towers to link up with your group holding the middle
bridge. Move west along the river, and you can destroy more towers to link up
with the last bridge group. There are two more Barracks in the area, so make
sure to take them out quickly, and guard against Slaves. Most likely they're
all dead by now, but you can't be certain unless you can see the whole map.
Finally, you can build a Dock and start killing the War Galleys scattered
throughout the bay.
Then just build a Castle on each island to start the final sequence. Theo has
to go into the gated area in the enemy base, which you've already conquered.
Lamely, Theo gets kidnapped, and you have to play the next map without him.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL3.10 Mission 10 - Up the River
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Population Limit: 0
This is a simple wilderness crawl. You don't build anything except one Keep at
the very end. You have to save the Settler until you're at the green marker, as
not even the cheats will allow you to build anything on this map.
Load all your troops into the waiting ship and proceed NW. when you see the
shoreline, you'll be following the one on your right side. There is a tower on
the right soon after you enter the river, and three on the left between the
entrance and the first north branch.
After following the shoreline on the right for a few minutes you get close to
one of the yellow markers, and you can unload your troops here. Use them to
clear the Undead a little NW of the landing, then re-board everyone but Sir
Antonio and the Priest.
Now send the Transport back to the second western river branch and take your
troops to the yellow marker, where you'll find 5 Demons you can recruit to do
your bidding. At the north-most point of the path where you find the Demons, go
directly left (on the screen) through the trees slowly. There are several
Undead you'll run into just before you get to another path, and a few more when
you do. Just a little NW of where you meet the new path, is a cliff overlooking
the river (the upper purple marker). Bring the 5 Demons up to attack the War
Galley sitting there, and have your Priest near to heal them.
Once the War Galley is dead, start moving the Transport to your final
destination, the green circle marker. There are towers lining the river
beginning at the lower purple marker, but if you just keep your ship in the
center, they won't attack you. Finally, Un-garrison your troops and build a
Keep.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL3.11 Mission 11 - Escape
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Population Limit: 256
TDL3.11.1 The Mission Begins
TDL3.11.2 Secure Your Borders
TDL3.11.3 Expand onto Enemy Lands
TDL3.11.4 Wait for the Ensuing Slaughter
TDL3.11.5 Eliminate Orange
TDL3.11.6 Eliminate Red and Complete your Objectives
This is the final mission with two enemies, and if you play as intended they
will both be attacking you at the same time. The best way I've found to beat
this level is to exploit a loophole in the scripting.
The level begins with you and King Gustav Lioneston trapped in an enemy fort.
You're told that the both of you are going to be killed and must escape. The
reason you DON'T want to hack your way out of the SW Walls is that the instant
you step beyond them, you have "30 months" to get the king back to his home. A
month is 20 seconds long, so that works out to 10 minutes total. It's quite a
challenge, which requires finding the right path by failing and reloading many
times, and you'll needlessly waste units to accomplish it. Oh, and you can't
BAK with Theo, because the king will get himself killed following you around.
Once you get him back to his base, a new timer starts and after 5 minutes
you're told you have to defend the Lioneston's Monastery for 100 months. This
time a month is only 10 seconds, so you have to guard it for 20 minutes. Sure
you get a few extra troops, but not many (and the King will take them back
after he declares the Monastery is okay), and the enemy will send strong groups
to destroy it frequently. You'll have three extra river crossings to worry
about defending, and you will likely be stretched too thin. Unless, of course,
you're able to select things and assign orders as quickly as the computer.
-----
TDL3.11.1 The Mission Begins
-----
When the mission starts, go right to your Keep, and train 8 slaves. Take the
three that are standing around and have them build a Warehouse in front of the
gold mine. There should now be two Slaves waiting at your Keep. Group them on a
hotkey, and send them to the east, where you'll start building houses along the
shoreline. Begin with 2 for now. Have the Slaves that built the warehouse start
mining gold, and take any other Slaves around and have them chop wood. Train a
Priest, which you'll move near the river crossing just west of your base. Move
all your troops there now, except Captain Antonio, who should be kept by the
Blacksmith, out of harm's way. If he'd dead you can't research Advanced
Ironwork, which allows a number of 3rd level upgrades (most of them needed for
Knights) and Exploding-Shot.
Queue up another 10 Slaves to train, send any waiting Slaves to chop wood, and
go back to your housebuilders. Have them build a total of 13 Houses along the
shoreline before sending them back to woodchopping. At the Keep, grab two
Slaves and have them build a Warehouse next to the stone piles on the east
side, then mine the stone. Have all but two of the remaining Slaves chop wood.
Have those two build a Barrack before sending them to chop wood. I suggest
putting it near the river, in a square-ish area by the trees north of the
campfire. Depending on how long this has taken you, Orange is about to build a
Barrack on the other side of the river, outside his walls. This happens 5-6
minutes into the mission, no matter what you do. Moving troops along the river
might later inadvertently trigger a rush, so if you want to take it out now,
"Stand" your Cavalry and have them skirt the banks until they see the Barrack
pile. Then have them attack the Slave to send it running, and destroy the
building materials.
While they're doing that, research Crossbow, and start turning out Trios. Set
the rally point just north of the crossing. Orange is about to rush you from
there, so when the Barrack is destroyed bring your Cavalry back and make your
troops "Defensive". There is also Blacksmith tech for you to buy, and you
should train another Priest.
Soon after the rush, about 3 minutes after Orange started building the Barrack
(a total of 9-10 minutes into the mission), the screen centers on Theo and you
get a message that you're going to die. Save the game immediately, as this
requires exact timing. Make sure the king is out of the way, set yourself just
to the left of the lone tree in the middle, and wait for the Bombermen. The
INSTANT the first one stops, run away from them. It will explode taking out all
5 of them, but with a little luck you and King Gustav will be alive.
Once this happens, create a special save point, so you don't have to do all
this initial buildup if you end up having (or wanting) to replay the mission.
Orange will continue attacking from the crossing by your base, but will also
use another crossing NW of you. Keep turning out trios, and train another
Priest or two. Send a combat group and one Priest north along the river until
you find the crossing. Keep a decent distance back, as there are 5 Demons on
the other side you don't want to engage yet.
Once things are stable, you have a choice. You can take an offensive approach,
or a defensive one. I chose the defensive approach, and is what I have outlined
here. The offensive approach (in simple terms) is to destroy Orange first, then
destroy Red.
-----
TDL3.11.2 Secure Your Borders
-----
First, have a pair of Slaves build two towers by the NE corner of the crossing
near your base. Have them build Walls across the crossing (and in front of the
towers), all the way to the southern map edge. Then have them build a pair on
each side of the 2nd crossing (a total of 4 towers there). Be very careful
about the placement on the southern side of that one, as bowmen can and will
attack from the other side of the river. I suggest keeping them well back to
prevent that. You can build Walls here as well, but leave an opening in the
center large enough for Cavalry to get through. Otherwise, they'll just run
around the long way to the north, and come up on your rear.
You should be harvesting and researching throughout this process. You really
won't have time to just sit back and wait for much of anything for a while.
Send some more troops and another Priest to the 2nd crossing to reinforce it.
When the first two crossings are well defended, form a combat group and send
them further north along the river, where you'll find the 3rd crossing. Station
them right in the middle of it so your entire land should be guarded against
intruding enemies. Then, form another combat group backed up by two Priests.
Those troops should search the roads and beaches of your land to clear out the
Undead waiting around.
Once that's done, there should be nothing stopping you from building enough
Houses to get to your population limit. At some point you'll need another
Barrack or two pumping out troops, and I suggest putting one in the north,
right in the middle of King Gustav's land. His land has two more river
crossings that you'll eventually need to defend anyway, and it's also close to
the 2nd crossing, which will be your primary line of defense for quite a while.
Since Walls and Guard Towers are going to be a huge part of my strategy, when
you've got a healthy amount of extra wood, break off some Slaves to seek out
and mine stone away from your base. There are a number of piles north and NNW
of your base, most of them within sight of the gold mine in the northern part
of your land. Your ally's Slaves will mine those heavily, so keep a few
Warriors and bowmen around to kill them and destroy the Warehouses they build.
I know it seems traitorous, but it doesn't hurt you at all (and they won't use
the stone for anything). You probably don't need to mine the gold from that
northern mine, but if you want to pull the miners from the one at your base
and bring them here, feel free to do so. If you really want to eliminate the
threat of ally Slaves, you can destroy their Stronghold, and hunt down all the
Slaves. It may cause nearby units to attack in response (which is not good),
unless you use the killing code.
Now that things are under good control, if you haven't done so already, build
Walls at the 2nd crossing, especially in front of your towers. Take care to
leave a space 2 or 3 Wall pieces wide, so the enemy Cavalry will walk right
into your tower crossfire. If also wouldn't hurt to build another tower on each
side, and max out the Tower-Crossbowman count for all of them.
Next, move the group guarding the 3rd crossing up to take out some undead at a
4th crossing a little to the west. Bring some Slaves in to build 4 towers there
in a semi-circle pattern. If you place them well, you can also almost
completely wall off the crossing. Still, some bowmen should stay there to
support them.
There are two final river crossings NW of this 4th one, and while you'll
definitely want to build at least two towers at each (and wall them off as best
you can), they are attacked quite a bit less than any other crossing. Still,
keep a good dozen bowmen and some Warriors at each one.
-----
TDL3.11.3 Expand onto Enemy Lands
-----
At this point, you should have your enemy completely confined to his land, and
have a sizeable force to fight with. Take a combat group with two Priests and
at least a trio of slaves (on a hotkey) to the 4th crossing. You'll be building
three sets of walled off towers in the enemy's territory.
On the other side, just to the south will be a small mountain. To the SE (east
of the mountain), is a copse of trees that will become important later. You'll
want to build a line of towers between the mountain and the river (I was able
to get 8 with a slight curve), and wall off the area as much as possible. When
you have 20-25 Crossbowmen that aren't needed at the first two crossings, bring
them behind the wall here to provide more firepower. You should have one Priest
here too, but this defensive line won't see much until later, and not that many
combat troops.
Next, follow the mountain around the north side. You'll find another mountain
to the west, with a pass between them going SW. Do not go NW, as there is a
well-fortified enemy encampment there. They don't ever seem to come out, so
leave them until almost last.
When you come out of the pass, you'll be close to the enemy, and it's not
possible to build here without attracting attention. So, get set up, explore
just a little (not far), and ping any troops you find.
When the area is secure enough, build a line of towers from the front of the
southern mountain's climb to the north mountain. You can get 5 or 6 towers in
there, depending on how you do it. Don't block off the climb, so some troops
will go past your defenses here. Build Walls to secure the area, and make sure
to build them on the mountains too. There's actually a huge stretch on the
northern mountain that troops can use to pass your defenses. You'll want around
20 bowmen at the back of this wall, and you should keep 20-25 against the
front. You'll want 3 Priests stationed against the back of the wall to heal the
troops here.
The third set you'll build is at the top of the mountain climb. You should be
able to fit three towers up here, though you won't be able to wall off much. It
might be better to simply keep 6 Knights and a dozen bowmen here. You'll also
want a Priest on hand. Two would be better.
Now you're well fortified, and have what should be an unbeatable defensive line
on enemy territory. Make sure your Slaves are harvesting for you, especially
stone. If you've focused on stone like I suggested, you should have almost
exhausted the available stone on your land. Your ally certainly has, and has
already been sending his Slaves to mine the stone on your land. Make sure you
take the time to kill those Slaves, as you want to have enough stone to repair
damage to your tower and Walls.
Now is the time to turn your attention to technology. Research everything you
can, especially Advanced Ironwork, which allows the best troop upgrades in the
game. Build a Castle in some of the vast area that your Slaves have cleared
while chopping wood, and build 3 or 4 Catapults.
At this point, you should be replacing any Warriors lost with Knights. They are
simply far better units, and last in a fight much longer. Make sure you have
enough Priests by the crossings and defenses to keep your troops alive. Now,
make sure the game is saved, and go do some other things. Check back every 15-
20 minutes to make sure things are still in good shape, and your emplacements
don't need reinforcement. Keep the 2nd crossing well covered, and especially
the 3rd-6rd crossings.
-----
TDL3.11.4 Wait for the Ensuing Slaughter
-----
After about the 3rd hour into the mission, the enemies will have exhausted all
the resources on most of their land, and will come for the trees right in front
of the towers at your eastern defensive position. Some of them will try to run
the other positions too and it's a flood of Slaves, at least 40 among the three
positions.
Naturally your towers and bowmen will begin slaughtering them, but there's so
many that some could slip by. Take a group of bowmen and hunt after those
Slaves. Don't go into the enemy walls in that NW section, but scan the map for
any Warehouses, destroy any you find (once you kill the Slave that built it).
Spend some time focused on this, as you don't want to take the risk of a Slave
behind your lines building a unit-producer of any kind.
Once you're certain there are no Slaves behind your lines, look back to your
eastern position. You'll see a somewhat steady line of enemy slaves (both Red
and Orange) coming to the trees and being slaughtered by your towers. It's
possible that some of them will be able to harvest some wood, but very likely
they won't get away with it. Now make a new save point.
You can start attacking Orange now if you wish, or you can wait for a while. If
you wait, check back every 20-30 minutes. After a little over an hour of
sending Slaves to their death, Orange will have run out of wood. You can tell
when this happens, because Orange Slaves stop coming to your position to be
slaughtered. The only unit in the game that can be produced without wood is the
Priest, so when you do get around to storming the enemy, make Monasteries a
prime target.
-----
TDL3.11.5 Eliminate Orange
-----
Save the game, and you can pull most of your troops away from the defensive
positions and crossings, and mass them at your base. It can help to ping Orange
troops before you take down the walls at the 1st crossing, and send your troops
in to kill Orange. Use Catapults to take out the towers along the Wall. Once
you've destroyed all their unit-producing buildings, they are defeated. You
gain any remaining buildings, but not the Walls.
I actually ended up with a negative number of buildings lost on this mission,
-38. It was weird seeing the blue bar to the left, intruding on the “Buildings
Rubbled” bar. Once again, you can continue waiting, or start attacking Red now.
You'll burn through more troops, but you will finish the level faster. If you
take that course, build your production buildings in Orange's old base.
-----
TDL3.11.6 Eliminate Red and Complete your Objectives
-----
It will take Red about 90 minutes longer than Orange to run out of wood, unless
you took the offensive, in which case it will be much faster. Check back every
20-30 minutes. Once Red is out of wood, save the game. You can now take down
the walls, and have your troops pour through the land killing with abandon.
When you have a sufficiently clear line, have Theo hack his way out of the
walls, and take the king back to his base. Use the 2nd crossing, as you won't
want to risk losing him.
Get him back quickly (you can probably do it in under 3 minutes), and continue
with the killing. 5 minutes after he gets back, you're charged with a new
objective, one that lasts for 20 minutes, so you have plenty of time to finish
decimating the enemy forces. You probably shouldn't destroy all of the Dark
Altars until the Monastery is safe, just to be safe.
Once King Gustav takes his troops back, destroy any remaining Keeps and Dark
Altars to win.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL3.12 Mission 12 - Revenge
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Population Limit: 0 (No Penalties)
This is a very small and fairly pointless map. Start moving Theo along the
hallway until it branches east and west. Take the west corridor, keeping as
close to the south wall as possible, until it turns north. Then head north
until you trip a lever, and turn around. On your way back, stay by the north
side of the hallway to make sure you trip the two levers in alcoves there.
These three levers close the doors on three separate rooms with Demons in them.
When you get back to the original branch, this time go east until it turns
north (ignore the north hallway for now). There's a lever here you need to
trip. Turn around, and take the north hallway you passed before. There are two
more levers in alcoves you'll pass by that you need to trip.
Finally, continue on and you'll find a large room with King Frank Kalap by the
western wall. Kill him in cold blood, and the Missions are over.
===============================================================================
TDL4 Instant Actions
===============================================================================
TDL4.1 The Cold Mountains
TDL4.2 The Dark Winter
TDL4.3 Farthest Islands
TDL4.4 Massacre at Egmont River
TDL4.5 The Rescue
TDL4.6 The Green Land
All of the Instant Action maps have a population limit of 256. Not all of the
Technology trees will be available in each Action, and the tech tree isn't
consistent or progressive as it was in the missions. You'll have to figure out
which ones are already in place and what's available further for yourself.
I won't go into much detail with most of these, just the basic strategy I used
to beat them. Be aware that enemy Slaves can and will sneak behind your lines
and build unit producers. It's important that you send some troops to chase and
kill any Slaves that sneak by your lines. Also, the enemy can (and often will)
rebuild the Guard Towers you destroy, so watch for the pile of building
materials that mean a Slave is on the way to rebuild it. They will also
sometimes build new Guard Towers, so if you find a group of Slaves behind your
lines, send a group also able to destroy towers.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL4.1 The Cold Mountains
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You are separated from your enemy by a river crossing to the west of your
northern base exit. You'll want to get all your troops over there to guard
against attacks.
There have been times when the enemy builds a Barrack just on his side of the
crossing, so that only some of the troops from that one can get across to
attack you. I haven't found anything that consistently causes that, but each
time it happened I did BAK the guards just on the other side, and pinged the
north tower.
You can line the crossing with towers, but keep in mind that Exploding-Shot is
available on this map, and your enemy will use it against you.
While defending from attack, assemble 3 combat groups (Knights and Crossbow),
and perhaps a few more Priests and Catapults. When you're ready, take out the
towers on his side and bring a group up to keep Slaves away. Build your own
towers there (I suggest 2 each side), and move through the base destroying. You
will sometimes want to "Stand" your groups and direct them to priority targets
like Slaves, Catapults (if they have Exploding-Shot), and unit producers.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL4.2 The Dark Winter
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a river map separated into 4 lands, 3 of them with enemies. You start
in the NE corner with Red to the south, Blue to the west, and Green in the SW
corner.
Everyone has an 80,000 unit gold mine in their base, but there's also a mine in
their land close to the center of the map (which is a lake). You and Green have
16,000 units; Blue and Red have 7,000 units. You'll need a ship to get to the
mines on other lands, but only the Green one is open enough to immediately
build a Warehouse so you can mine.
Since this is a river map, you can fortify the crossings in a way similar to
Mission 11. However, the enemy will again have Exploding-Shot after a certain
point, so leave a wide enough space that your Crossbowmen (with Flaming Arrow)
can quickly destroy those. The Catapults always come near the end of a
particular enemy's rush, but more than one enemy may come from each direction.
In my games, I fortified the southern crossing so well, that all three enemies
were rushing me at the north crossing.
Remember you have Demons with Rain of Hell available to you now. They can make
a huge difference when it's time to storm an enemy base.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL4.3 Farthest Islands
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an island map, and you begin with (among other things) a Dock, 11 War
Galleys, 3 Transport Ships, and 4 Catapults. All you have to do is destroy the
enemy Castles, which won't be rebuilt. The easiest way to do that is via Rain
of Hell.
Build a few extra Transport ships and at least 32 Warriors that you place on
"Stand". Build a Dark Altar and train at least 32 Demons that you place on
"Stand" as well. Research Rain of Hell.
-----
Castle 1
-----
Directly LEFT of your north Barrack, across the sea, you'll find a Green War
Galley, and a tower on the shore not far behind. Take those out with some War
Galleys, and the towers as well. Then Un-garrison a Transport of Warriors and
one of Demons. Have the Warriors move SW until they come to a trio of towers in
front of a wall that branches south and west. Attack the closest Tower, and
then put the Demons in "Defensive". Wait a few seconds, then select one that's
not getting hurt. Have it cast Rain of Hell over the NE corner of the revealed
Castle.
Once the swirling colors start moving towards the sky, the spell has been cast.
If the Demon dies before that, select another one that's not getting hurt
(putting them in a group helps with this), and try again. In the unlikely event
all your Demons die, try again with the other 16 Warriors and 16 Demons.
-----
Castle 2
-----
Take some War Galleys north from the western edge of your island to destroy a
War Galley along the north edge of the map. Move your warships west along the
shoreline until you've destroyed two more War Galleys. NE of the second one is
a strip of land jutting out, and SE of that is an opening through the trees.
Send the Warriors in to reveal the Castle and engage the few troops there. Then
bring in the Demons and have one cast Rain of Hell. You win.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL4.4 Massacre at Egmont River
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is actually a pretty simple map. First, send the troops you have east and
destroy the Orange Keep. You'll get a few Slaves out of that, especially if
your troops don't kill any. While that's happening, get your harvesting
underway, and start cranking out Trios. There's a path SE from your base that
goes to the Red enemy bridge. Get your guys over to cover that, and make sure
no Slaves slip by. Build another Barrack and have that create trios too. Probe
the bridge to unveil the towers there, but don't walk past the traps at the
entrance. When you have three full combat groups, wait for a rush to be over,
and ping a tower to bring out any close defenders.
Then, put everybody on "Stand", and take the Catapults through the entrance to
destroy the traps. Have them attack a tower, and bring all three groups in.
Send one SE, one a little east, and the other south. Set the first two to
"Defensive" once they start collecting Red attackers. The third group just
continues south until they surround the King at the fountain. Then attack him,
and once he's dead you win.
If you wish, you can probably use a smaller distraction force if you train 8-10
Demons and research Rain of Hell. Then you could set them on "Stand" and have
them run south (they're very fast). When they're safely by the King, cast Rain
of Hell to win.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL4.5 The Rescue
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a _very_ simple map. North and slightly west of your gold mine is a jut
of land on your island. Almost directly north of that across the sea is an area
sparsely populated with dead trees. The goal is to build a few Transports, and
send over a combat group and four Catapults (hopefully with Exploding-Shot).
Use the Catapults to clear a path through the dead trees. At the north-most
line of three dead trees, turn west and clear a path through the trees to a
Guard Tower behind a wall. Take out the tower and clear a path to a double Wall
behind it.
Open that Wall, and send a foot in to get the King. Take him back to your base
and you win.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL4.6 The Green Land
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TDL4.6.1 Secure Your Borders
TDL4.6.2 Destroy the Green Outpost
TDL4.6.3 Complete Your Objective
This is another river map, separated into three lands. You're in the NE, Red is
in the NW, while Green is in the south. Green's main base is in the SW, with an
outpost in the SE. You won't be able to build a Barrack on this map, so you
have to use evil forces and Priests. You can create Catapults and Bombermen,
but Demons are superior to Catapults in all but range. True, the damage per
shot is lower, but you can get more units with a faster rate of fire. Not to
mention their advantages in speed and maneuverability.
You can't easily defend the river crossings, as Green and especially Red
already have them well defended by towers. You'll have to build up your forces
from a rather open defensive position. Put your Giants and Demons out in the
paths where they can actually do some good. Scatter some Undead throughout the
trees where they can locate enemy troops sneaking up on you. Train many Slaves
and gather resources to fund your war effort.
In the NE corner there is a lovely spot of land where you can build enough
houses (out of the way) to get you to the maximum population of 256.
-----
TDL4.6.1 Secure Your Borders
-----
Start by sending your current Slaves to chop wood. Divide your current forces
into two groups, and send them out from your base along the paths. On the
western path, halt when you come to the start of a hill. Shortly beyond that
are the towers and the north river crossing. North of the hill are some dead
trees, and a clearing beyond that. That's where you want to station the bulk of
your Undead. Leave the Giants on the path where they can move around, and also
some Undead and the Demons. The first rush will almost certainly come from this
direction, but during the game both enemies will rush the crossing that is
least defended (to their algorithms). That means there's likely to be some back
and forth depending on what you have at each crossing, and perhaps how quickly
you kill their rushing forces.
On the southern path, explore until you come to the river, but then pull back a
bit. Keep your Giants and Demons out in the clearing where they can do the most
good, and spread your Undead around. Once the first rush is over (and beware,
Green will follow closely on the heels of Red), build two towers here to help
stop Slaves from sneaking onto your land. Build them a little bit back from the
crossing, otherwise the towers will kill your Slaves.
During the rush, your troops may have gotten close to the towers on their side
of the crossing. Destroy those towers now but remember that Undead only heal
when inactive, so pull the injured ones behind the main group to let them heal.
Also, every new enemy encounter for a while will bring a new rush from both Red
and Green. Sometimes Green will attack the south crossing, but still normally
comes after Red.
-----Fortify Your Defensive Lines
When you've got some time and space, build a line of three towers in the trees
and clearing that have been the main battleground. These will help you with
future rushes. You can also build a tower to each side of the hill, on the
eastern tip. Be aware that Demons can't shoot through anything, and they WILL
hit your towers if you let them.
When the north crossing is well covered, build towers near the south crossing.
Now that you should be well covered, send a Demon around to explore your land,
and make it easier to scan for enemy buildings. If the enemy starts rushing the
south crossing, you'll want to carefully manage your Demons. "Stand" them, move
them so they have a clear shot, and engage each enemy individually. That's
really the only way to use Demons anywhere near your towers.
You should also build a Monastery and turn out some Priests. They won't help
your Undead, but they will heal the Giants and Demons. The Giants are also
excellent to have out front of your towers. The deal a lot of damage while
keeping most units away from your towers. Also, they have enough HP that the
enemy can't kill them if your Priests are healing them between rushes.
When the enemy starts rushing the south crossing, DO NOT pull your troops from
the north one. Train more troops, and send them to the south crossing. Also,
build another 3 or 4 towers at each crossing to help deal with the rushes. Keep
a Slave or two nearby to repair the towers.
-----
TDL4.6.2 Destroy the Green Outpost
-----
When things are going well, you'll be ready to attack your enemy. Start with
the Green outpost in the SE corner.
There are no Slaves there, but there are 2 Barracks and 7 towers you'll need to
take out. One Barrack is just inside the walls, so try using an Undead to BAK
those troops before rushing in. If you like, you can send a group of around 10
Demons in to try a Rain of Hell, but I didn't find it to be worth the trouble.
It's far more effective to use it on the Barrack to the west (if revealed) once
you start your rush.
Generally speaking, your rushes are best accomplished with Undead backed up by
Demons. Undead are very resistant to damage, and Demons have the power and
range to take out towers quickly.
Once you've eliminated the towers and Barracks, bring Slaves in to build 4
towers at the west wall entrance. Clear out the Priests and Monasteries
(including one just outside the west wall). If you keep Demons near the new
position you've made, keep them in "Stand" and direct them yourself. It's far
too easy for them to damage your towers otherwise.
-----
TDL4.6.3 Complete Your Objective
-----
At this point, it's really a matter of choosing which enemy you want to destroy
first. I picked Green in the SW, because it's far easier to get into Red's
fortification from there, but it's up to you. Remember that if you have a
Barrack revealed you can destroy it and often any troops nearby with a Rain of
Hell. It could cause an RA, though.
Be extra cautious near the end. If you kill or convert the last Priest with a
population over the maximum, the game will crash. You'll still get the credit,
and your time will show up, but you won't get to see the after action details.
===============================================================================
TDL5 Building Details
===============================================================================
TDL5.1 Simple Buildings
TDL5.2 Advanced Buildings
I have listed the time to build (in seconds) using only one Slave, and included
the time bonuses for Do-it-Yourself and Drafting. Each Slave will do an equal
portion, so if you have 3 working, it will take 1/3 the time. 2 or 3 is usually
the optimum number of Slaves to build something, especially Houses.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL5.1 Simple Buildings
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keep
Description: This is where you train Slaves, as well as upgrade them. It also
increases your maximum population by 10. Once you upgrade, new Strongholds are
built though the advanced buildings menu.
First Available: Mission 1
Requirements: Drafting
Time: 75
Cost: 600W
HP: 1200
House
Description: Houses increases your maximum population by 5.
First Available: Mission 1
Requirements: Keep/Stronghold
Time: 14
Cost: 60W
HP: 400
Warehouse
Description: A drop-off point for harvested resources. Build these near
resources you will harvest so your Slaves don't waste time walking a long
distance.
First Available: Mission 1
Requirements: Keep/Stronghold
Time: 8
Cost: 50W
HP: 300
Barrack
Description: You train foot soldiers and mounted soldiers here. Each Barrack
has its own production queue and rally point.
First Available: Mission 1
Requirements: Do-it-Yourself
Time: 55
Cost: 200W 200S
HP: 1200
Guard Tower
Description: A tower from which the "Tower-Archers" inside can attack.
First Available: Mission 3
Requirements: Drafting
Time: 25
Cost: 50W 160S 30G
HP: 1000
"Tower-Archer"
Description: Trained and housed in the individual Guard Towers you build. When
you research the Crossbow, they are automatically upgraded to Crossbowmen. You
can train 4 additional bowmen per tower.
Cost: 50W 30G
Time: 9
Blacksmith
Description: The central upgrade point for Barrack troops, except for Flaming
Arrows.
First Available: Mission 2
Requirements: Do-it-Yourself
Time: 37
Cost: 30W 100S
HP: 1000
Alchemy
Description: A center for research. Only one tech directly improves anything.
First Available: Mission 3 (but there's nothing to research until Mission 4)
Requirements: Blacksmith, Drafting
Time: 64
Cost: 400W 600S 500G
HP: 1200
Wall
Description: A wall that your enemies ignore, except to go around. Used only to
narrow the path an enemy can take, though it's possible to completely block out
large units like Cavalry and Catapults. I have never seen the computer attack a
wall directly.
First Available: Mission 3
Requirements: Drafting
Time: 3
Cost: 5S
HP: 1200
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL5.2 Advanced Buildings
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These buildings require Engineering (researched in the Alchemy) to build.
Stronghold
Description: This is an upgraded Keep.
First Available: Mission 7
Time: 89
Cost: 400W 600S
HP: 1200
Castle
Description: Used primarily to build and upgrade Catapults, it also produces
Bombermen. One very valuable technology is researched here... Mercenary Force.
First Available: Mission 4 (you get a free one on Mission 3)
Time: 89
Cost: 600W 800S
HP: 2000
Monastery
Description: The Monastery is used to train and upgrade Priests. In the Instant
Actions and Random Games you can research Anger of God here, which allows you
to build Dark Altars.
First Available: Mission 4
Time: 27
Cost: 200W 300S
HP: 800
Dock
Description: The only two water units are built here.
First Available: Mission 2
Time: 31
Cost: 500W
HP: 800
Trap
Description: This is a complete waste. The enemy traps in Missions 3,4,11 and
Instant Action 5 do kill your troops, but any traps you place have no effect on
the enemy.
Cost: 50W
Time: 3
Dark Altar
Description: This is an "evil creature Barrack", and also allows you to
research the single spell in the game. The Dark Altar isn't available in the
missions.
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Time: 111
Cost: 800W 1000S 500G
HP: 1600
===============================================================================
TDL6 Unit Details
===============================================================================
TDL6.1 Keep/Stronghold Units
TDL6.2 Barracks Units
TDL6.3 Dock Units
TDL6.4 Castle Units
TDL6.5 Monastery Unit
TDL6.6 Dark Altar Units
TDL6.7 Granted Unit
There is no internal list of requirements, so the ones here are my best guess
after experimentation. I only list what is directly required, leaving out any
technologies or buildings you need to get to those requirements.
I have listed the base attack and defense values for units that have any. If
there isn't a listing, the base value is zero.
I have listed the time to train in seconds. Having multiple buildings of the
same type will not reduce the time, but you can train multiple units
simultaneously.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL6.1 Keep/Stronghold Units
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Slave
Alternate names: Builder, Fixer, Lumberjack, Miner
Description: Slaves are the backbone of your operation. They are the only units
that can build buildings, and the only units that can repair buildings, ship,
and Catapults.
First Available: Mission 1
Time: 5
Cost: 40W
HP: 90
Sight Range: 6
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL6.2 Barracks Units
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Warrior
Description: Warriors are the basic foot soldier, and the only one you'll be
able to produce until Mission 11.
First Available: Mission 1
Time: 9
Cost: 50W
HP: 150
Attack: 8
Range: 1
Sight Range: 8
Knight
Description: An advanced foot soldier. You won't be able to train them until
Mission 11.
First Available: Mission 6
Requirements: 2-Edged Blade, Steel Shield, Steel Armor
Time: 18
Cost: 70W 90G
HP: 210
Attack: 18
Defense: 20/70/0
Range: 1
Sight Range: 10
Archer
Description: Archers are the basic ranged soldier, but you won't use them much
after the advanced version becomes available.
First Available: Mission 2
Cost: 30W 20G
Time: 9
HP: 120
Attack: 5
Range: 8
Sight Range: 10
Crossbowman
Description: An advanced ranged soldier. Once you are able to heal units with a
Priest (Level 4), these should replace Archers in almost every situation.
First Available: Mission 3
Requirements: Crossbow
Time: 11
Cost: 60W 50G
HP: 150
Attack: 6
Range: 9
Sight Range: 11
Light Cavalry
Description: The basic mounted unit. They are extremely fast, but huge. They
have trouble moving in spaces foot soldiers pass through easily, and their high
speed can have them in the thick of overwhelming enemy forces before you
realize it. That coupled with their high cost mean I suggest you almost never
spend resources on this unit. They can be used as scouts or decoys, provided
you set them to "Stand", and manage them carefully.
First Available: Mission 2
Requirements: Horse Riding
Time: 14
Cost: 80W 50G
HP: 195
Attack: 14
Range: 1
Sight Range: 11
Heavy Cavalry
Description: An advanced mounted unit. This one has armor, a stronger attack,
and a slower speed. This is probably less useful than Light Cavalry, and I
advise against training this unit as well.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Mega-Death-Mace, Steel Shield, Steel Armor
Time: 18
Cost: 90W 120G
HP: 240
Attack: 28
Defense: 20/39/0
Range: 1
Sight Range: 12
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL6.3 Dock Units
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transport Ship
Description: Used to carry units across water, and also for scouting water.
First Available: Mission 2
Time: 28
Cost: 300W
HP: 360
Sight Range: 12
War Galley
Description: Your only combat ships. They are fairly slow, so you should almost
never send them into unexplored waters.
First Available: Mission 8
Requirements: Compass, Blacksmith
Time: 35
Cost: 300W 50G
HP: 1200
Attack: 35
Defense: 0/30/0
Range: 14
Sight Range: 16
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL6.4 Castle Units
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catapult
Description: The only siege engine you can build. It's very slow and can't
shoot at anything too close to itself. The two greatest strengths are the range
and the amount of damage (especially when you get Exploding-Shot).
First Available: Mission 3
Requirements: Blacksmith
Time: 35
Cost: 250W 80G
HP: 210
Attack: 30
Defense: 0/20/0
Range: 14
Sight Range: 16
Bomberman
Description: A slow suicide bomber with a tiny blast radius. It will only
damage units and buildings that are _very_ close to it (melee range) when it
detonates. Why this is in a medieval-themed game, I have no idea.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Alchemy, Explosives
Time: 28
Cost: 200W 100G
HP: 20
Attack: 300
Range: 1
Sight Range: 8
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL6.5 Monastery Unit
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Priest
Description: Their primary use is to heal your living units, but they can
become limited offensive units in a pinch (after you research Pyrotechnics).
They can't heal themselves (but they can heal other Priests), ships, Catapults
or Undead. The game says they heal humans, but they do heal Giants and Demons.
First Available: Mission 4
Time: 14
Cost: 200G
HP: 90
Attack: 3
Range: 12
Sight Range: 14
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL6.6 Dark Altar Units
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You will not be able to build the Dark Altar in the Missions, but you can in
the Instant Actions and Random Games.
Giant
Description: A very big, very slow, very tough infantry unit. If it wasn't so
slow, it could be useful as a close-range siege unit. Best used as a front line
defense for your Guard Towers and Wall entrances.
Requirements: Blacksmith
Time: 14
Cost: 400W 300G
HP: 900
Attack: 32
Defense: 20/10/0
Range: 1
Sight Range: 8
Demon
Description: Extremely fast unit with a powerful ranged attack. Use them in
groups, even when you just want to cast a Spell, as they can be killed quite
easily. With a Priest to back them up, a group of 15-25 is a viable alternative
to Catapults.
Requirements: Alchemy
Time: 14
Cost: 100W 300G
HP: 150
Attack: 30
Range: 12
Sight Range: 14
Undead
Description: A solid foot soldier that will slowly regenerate when idle.
Requirements: Blacksmith
Time: 14
Cost: 200W 100G
HP: 120
Attack: 10
Defense: 20/39/0
Range: 1
Sight Range: 7
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL6.7 Granted Unit
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Settler
Description: You can never build this, but it is granted on Mission 8
(conditional) and Mission 10. It's a very slow Build-A-Keep on wheels that
requires at least one Slave.
HP: 360
Sight Range: 8
===============================================================================
TDL7 Technology/Research Details
===============================================================================
TDL7.1 Keep/Stronghold Research
TDL7.2 Barrack Research
TDL7.3 Blacksmith Research
TDL7.4 Alchemy Research
TDL7.5 Dock Research
TDL7.6 Castle Research
TDL7.7 Monastery Research
TDL7.8 Dark Altar Research
There is no internal list of requirements, so the ones here are my best guess
after experimentation. I only list what is directly required, leaving out any
technologies or buildings you need to get to those requirements.
Quite a number of technologies have a research path of two or three levels. You
must research Level 1 before you can research Level 2, and you must research
Level 2 before you can research Level 3.
I have listed the time to research in seconds. Having multiple buildings of the
same type will not reduce the time, but you can research multiple technologies
simultaneously.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL7.1 Keep/Stronghold Research
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keep/Stronghold Research bonuses are percentages of the base values, not the
current ones. They are cumulative.
Do-it-Yourself
Description: Your Slaves will build 10% faster.
First Available: Mission 2
Time: 9
Cost: 200W
Drafting
Description: Your Slaves will build 15% faster. This is required to build a
Keep/Stronghold, Alchemy, Guard Tower, and Wall.
First Available: Mission 3
Requirements: Blacksmith
Time: 14
Cost: 300W 50S 100G
Stronghold
Description: This will convert your existing Keeps to Strongholds, and will
allow you to build Strongholds.
First Available: Mission 8
Requirements: Blacksmith, Engineering
Time: 56
Cost: 1000W 1500S 1000G
Hatchet (Level 1)
Description: Chop wood 10% faster.
First Available: Mission 1
Requirements: Warehouse
Time: 5
Cost: 100W
Hand-saw (Level 2)
Description: Chop wood 15% faster.
First Available: Mission 2
Requirements: Warehouse, Blacksmith
Time: 9
Cost: 200W
Two-handed saw (Level 3)
Description: Chop wood 30% faster.
First Available: Mission 9
Requirements: Warehouse, Blacksmith, Stronghold Research
Time: 28
Cost: 500W 100G
Mine camp (Level 1)
Description: Mine stone and gold 15% faster.
First Available: Mission 2
Requirements: Warehouse, Blacksmith
Time: 7
Cost: 200W 50S
Mine car (Level 2)
Description: Mine stone and gold 30% faster.
First Available: Mission 9
Requirements: Warehouse, Blacksmith, Stronghold Research
Time: 9
Cost: 400W 50S 100G
Backpack (Level 1)
Description: Your Slaves will carry 12 units of resources.
First Available: Mission 3
Requirements: Warehouse
Time: 5
Cost: 100W
Barrow (Level 2)
Description: Your Slaves will carry 15 units of resources.
First Available: Mission 3
Requirements: Warehouse, Blacksmith
Time: 9
Cost: 200W
Donkey (Level 3)
Description: Your Slaves will carry 20 units of resources.
First Available: Mission 9
Requirements: Warehouse, Blacksmith, Stronghold Research
Time: 28
Cost: 400W 100G
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL7.2 Barrack Research
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Horse Riding
Description: Allows you to train mounted units.
First Available: Mission 2
Time: 14
Cost: 200W 300G
Crossbow
Description: Allows you to train Crossbowmen.
First Available: Mission 3
Requirements: Blacksmith
Time: 14
Cost: 300W 500G
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL7.3 Blacksmith Research
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These provide cumulative bonuses to the relevant troops.
Each research level uses the same research time. Level 1 takes 14 seconds;
Level 2 takes 28 seconds; Level 3 takes 56 seconds.
Iron-blade (Level 1)
Description: +1 Attack for Warriors and Knights.
First Available: Mission 2
Cost: 200W
2-handed Sword (Level 2)
Description: +1 Attack for Warriors and Knights.
First Available: Mission 8
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Cost: 100W 200G
2-edged Blade (Level 3)
Description: +2 Attack for Warriors and Knights.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Stronghold Research, Advanced Ironwork
Cost: 600G
Wooden Shield (Level 1)
Description: +5/0/0 for Warriors, Knights, and Cavalry.
First Available: Mission 2
Cost: 200W
Iron Shield (Level 2)
Description: +10/0/0 for Warriors, Knights, and Cavalry.
First Available: Mission 8
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Cost: 500G
Steel Shield (Level 3)
Description: +20/0/0 for Warriors, Knights, and Cavalry.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Stronghold Research, Advanced Ironwork
Cost: 800G
Leather Armor (Level 1)
Description: +0/10/0 for all human units.
First Available: Mission 2
Cost: 200W
Chain Armor (Level 2)
Description: +0/20/0 for all human units.
First Available: Mission 8
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Cost: 300G
Steel Armor (Level 3)
Description: +0/5/0 for all human units.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Stronghold Research, Advanced Ironwork
Cost: 800G
Sighting (Level 1)
Description: +1 Attack for bowmen.
First Available: Mission 2
Cost: 200W
Pierce head (Level 2)
Description: +1 Attack for bowmen.
First Available: Mission 8
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Cost: 300G
Double-pierce (Level 3)
Description: +1 Attack for bowmen.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Stronghold Research, Advanced Ironwork
Cost: 500G
Bolted bow (Level 1)
Description: +1 attack range and sight range for bowmen.
First Available: Mission 2
Cost: 200W
Scouting (Level 2)
Description: +1 attack range and sight range for bowmen.
First Available: Mission 8
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Cost: 300G
Scope (Level 3)
Description: +2 attack range and sight range for bowmen.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Stronghold Research, Advanced Ironwork
Cost: 300G
Iron-ball (Level 1)
Description: +1 Attack for Cavalry.
First Available: Mission 2
Cost: 200W
Metallic-mace (Level 2)
Description: +1 Attack for Cavalry.
First Available: Mission 8
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Cost: 300G
Mega-death-mace (Level 3)
Description: +2 Attack for Cavalry.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Stronghold Research, Advanced Ironwork
Cost: 500G
Advanced Ironwork
Description: Allows you to research 3rd Level Blacksmith technologies.
First Available: Mission 11 (Captain Antonio must be alive)
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Time: 56
Cost: 200W 1000G
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL7.4 Alchemy Research
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Engineering
Description: Allows you to build the Castle, Dock, Monastery, Stronghold, Trap,
and Dark Altar.
First Available: Mission 4
Time: 31
Cost: 500W 200S 800G
Pyrotechnics (Level 1)
Description: Allows research of Heated Shot and Flaming Arrow, and allows
Priests to attack.
First Available: Mission 8
Time: 14
Cost: 800G
Explosives (Level 2)
Description: Allows research of Exploding-Shot, and training of Bombermen.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Time: 56
Cost: 1200G
Ballistics (Level 1)
Description: Allows your bowmen to hit moving targets.
First Available: Mission 9
Time: 28
Cost: 600G
Hideout (Level 2)
Description: Allows your bowmen to shoot through buildings and trees.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Time: 14
Cost: 1000G
Curved Shoot
Description: Your bowmen can shoot over obstacles. This is a poor man's
version of Hideout.
First Available: Mission 11
Time: 28
Cost: 800G
Flaming Arrow
Description: +2 Attack for Crossbowmen only.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Crossbow, Pyrotechnics
Time: 28
Cost: 500W 1500G
Bloodbath
Description: Your human units will attack +30% faster. I can't be certain, but
I think this applies to all living units.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Time: 28
Cost: 1500G
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL7.5 Dock Research
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Compass
Description: Allows you to build War Galleys.
First Available: Mission 8
Requirements: Pyrotechnics
Time: 14
Cost: 800G
Cartography (Level 1)
Description: Increases all ships speed by 10%.
First Available: Mission 9
Requirements: Blacksmith, Compass
Time: 28
Cost: 600G
Double Oars (Level 2)
Description: Increases War Galley speed by 10%.
First Available: Mission 9
Requirements: Stronghold research
Time: 56
Cost: 300W 500G
Aiming (Level 1)
Description: +5 Attack for your War Galleys.
First Available: Mission 9
Requirements: Compass
Time: 5
Cost: 100W 800G
2-Barrel Cannon (Level 2)
Description: +10 Attack for your War Galleys.
First Available: Mission 9
Requirements: Advanced Ironwork
Time: 140
Cost: 500W 2000G
Crow's nest (Level 1)
Description: Increases the range of your ships by 2.
First Available: Mission 9
Requirements: Compass
Time: 28
Cost: 1200G
Binoculars (Level 2)
Description: Supposedly increases the range of your ships by 3, but doesn't
change any displayed values.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Advanced Ironwork
Time: 56
Cost: 2500G
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL7.6 Castle Research
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rivets (Level 1)
Description: Armor for your Catapults and ships, +3/5/3.
First Available: Mission 9
Time: 9
Cost: 400W
Bolted-Wood (Level 2)
Description: Armor for your Catapults and ships, +5/10/5.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Time: 28
Cost: 800W
Armored-Wood (Level 3)
Description: Armor for your Catapults and ships, +12/15/12.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Stronghold Research, Advanced Ironwork
Time: 56
Cost: 500W 800G
Heated-Shot (Level 1)
Description: +30 Attack for your Catapults.
First Available: Mission 9
Requirements: Stronghold Research, Pyrotechnics
Time: 28
Cost: 100W 1000G
Exploding-Shot (Level 2)
Description: +40 Attack for your Catapults.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Explosives, Advanced Ironwork
Time: 56
Cost: 500W 2000G
Mercenary Force
Description: Your military units will be trained +30% faster.
First Available: Mission 9
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Time: 14
Cost: 1000G
Siege Engine
Description: Increases the range of your Catapults by 2.
First Available: Mission 9
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Time: 14
Cost: 700G
Mortar (Level 1)
Description: Adds +10% defense versus Catapults to your buildings.
First Available: Mission 9
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Time: 14
Cost: 200S 500G
Constructing (Level 2)
Description: Adds +20% defense versus Catapults to your buildings.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Time: 28
Cost: 300S 800G
Fortified wall
Description: Increases the HP of your Castle by 1000, Walls by 500, and Guard
Towers by 200.
First Available: Mission 11
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Time: 14
Cost: 600S 100G
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL7.7 Monastery Research
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holy Scroll
Description: Armor for your Priests, +15/15/0.
First Available: Mission 4
Time: 9
Cost: 500G
Ring of Fire (Level 1)
Description: +2 Attack for your Priests.
First Available: Mission 9
Requirements: Pyrotechnics
Time: 14
Cost: 600G
Anger of God (Level 2)
Description: Required to build Dark Altars. Not available in the Missions.
Requirements: Stronghold Research
Time: 140
Cost: 2000G
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL7.8 Dark Altar Research
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rain of Hell
Description: Allows any Demon to cast this spell once, but must be researched
each time it is cast. The spell creates a devastating firestorm that deals
great damage to any unit or structure within the area of effect. The larger it
is, the more hellrain will hit it, and the more it will be damaged. It
typically kills all units within the area of the spell, but small, high HP
buildings (especially Walls) can escape destruction. This Spell takes five
seconds to cast.
Time: 14
Cost: 800G
===============================================================================
TDL8 Codes
===============================================================================
All codes are entered in the Console, which you bring up by holding
[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[M]. Capitalization doesn't matter, but correct spacing does.
The Console keeps a record of the entered text that you can cycle through with
the up and down arrow keys.
It's possible that one or more of these codes do something I didn't list, which
means I didn't notice it.
TDL8.1 Standard Codes
TDL8.2 Advanced Codes
TDL8.3 Time Modifiers
TDL8.4 Toggle Codes
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|TDL8.1 Standard Codes
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There codes should be safe and easy for anyone to use. I recommend completing a
Mission normally before using any of these codes, except the map reveal.
8.1.1) EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Description: I use this on every map, as I hate the fog of war. This code
disables the fog, but also reveals the entire map.
8.1.2) THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE
Description: This code grants you all Technology that can be researched on the
map.
8.1.3) ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL
Description: This code grants all Technology that can be researched on the map,
but grants it to ALL players. Helpful if you want to cheat "fairly".
8.1.4) OSSZES BAZMEG
Description: This code grants you the maximum Technology allowed on the map,
beyond what you get from 8.1.2 and 8.1.3 above.
8.1.5) THE HOUSE JACK BUILT
Description: Unlocks all buildings, but doesn't remove requirements.
8.1.6) METAL MILITIA
Description: Unlocks all units, but doesn't remove requirements.
8.1.7) #GIMME [unitname]
Description: Places the specified unit at the center of the map screen. This
code will not work if a unit is already occupying that position.
[unitname] Values: WORKER, WARRIOR, KNIGHT, ARCHER, CROSSBOWMAN, LIGHTCAVALRY,
HEAVYCAVALRY, TRANSPORTSHIP, WARGALLEY, CATAPULT, BOMBERMAN, PRIEST, GIANT,
DEMON, UNDEAD, SETTLER, KING, CAVALRYHERO, CLINTEASTWOOD, RAMBO, MAKY
Special notes: Worker is the internal name for Slaves. Cavalryhero seems to be
another Theo, but is named "Hero-Cavalry" instead. Rambo is just what you
think. MakY is something I don't know. Clinteastwood crashes the game
every time (at least for me).
8.1.8) GIMME FUEL, GIMME FIRE
Description: This code gives you 100,000 units of each resource.
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|TDL8.2 Advanced Codes
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These codes require some caution before (and maybe during) use. I generally
suggest these not be used at all until you've completed Campaign Mode.
8.2.1) KILL'EM ALL
Description: "Kill'em" is one word. This code deals 200 melee damage (minus
defenses) to the selected unit(s), or destroys the selected building. Be
careful, as it will do those things to your units and buildings also. Since
you can only select one enemy unit at a time, it's troublesome to kill enemy
troops with it (especially since Steel Armor (L3) means all units but Slaves
require 2 or more uses). This is best saved for buildings (especially high HP
ones), or Slaves (if you have the map revealed). Then again, using the team
control code will let you select up to 25 "friendly" units at a time.
8.2.2) KING NOTHING
Description: This code only works on Mission maps. It sets all Objectives to
"Complete", which means you instantly win the Mission.
8.2.3) I'M YOU [player_id]
Description: Allows you to control any team still in the game. The default is
zero (what you start every game with), and each other team has a number too.
Existing scripting will still be used, but otherwise you can control the units
and buildings normally.
8.2.4) KICK ASS
Description: This code only helps if you're currently controlling a computer
player's team. It changes the current team's rush attack target to the selected
building. This will only affect the troops the AI selects for a rush attack,
not anything else.
8.2.5) HARVESTER OF SORROW
Description: This code depletes the currently selected gold mine or stone mine.
Nobody gets anything, it just disappears.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL8.3 Time Modifiers
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You will need to be careful about using the three codes below, as the time
reductions they provide last for the entire session AND will apply to all
players (including the computer). Unlike the codes above, you will have to
completely close the program before the time reductions will stop applying.
8.3.1) MASTER OF PUPPETS
Description: This code reduces the time to train/build units and research
everything to almost nothing.
8.3.2) YOUR LIFE BURNS FASTER
Description: This code reduces building time to almost nothing. It also reduces
the time it takes to repair buildings and units to almost nothing.
8.3.3) OSSZES FASZOM
Description: This code will disable the fog of war, reveal the map, give you
100,000 units of each resource, and grant you all the Technology that can be
researched on the map. It also reduces the time to build, train, research, and
repair everything to almost nothing.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|TDL8.4 Toggle Codes
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These code generally aren't that helpful to a player, but I've included them
for those who happen to find them interesting. They will remain active until
turned off, or until the program is closed.
8.4.1) #SHOW TIMER
Description: Displays the time spent on the map in the upper right corner.
8.4.2) #SHOW FPS
Description: Displays the frames per second in the lower right corner.
8.4.3) #SHOW GRID
Description: Displays grid lines on the map.
8.4.4) #SHOW BLOCKED
Description: Displays what grid blocks are occupied or always unavailable.
8.4.5) #PLAYER POINTS
Description: Displays the points for each player. Every type of unit and
resource has a certain value, and this shows the total value for all players.
Each unit has a value that is lower than the sum of the resources used to
create them, so the total points aren't reflective of true strength.
8.4.6) #SHOW ALARM BLOCKS
Description: This highlights a large are centered on a unit that attacks or is
noticed by enemy forces. Otherwise unknown usage.
===============================================================================
TDL9 Special Unit Details
===============================================================================
These two units can only be obtained by using the unit-creating code above.
Rambo
Description: A machine-gun toting soldier.
HP: 24,000
Attack: 40
Defense: 100/100/100
Range: 14
Sight Range: 16
MakY
Description: A laser-gun toting guy that displays a series of thought bubbles.
HP: 24,000
Attack: 250
Defense: 100/100/100
Range: 14
Sight Range: 16
===============================================================================
Conclusion
===============================================================================
Once you've read through this guide and played the game a bit, you should see
there are some tricks you'll need to learn to effectively play the game.
However, once you've learned all those tricks the AI isn't all that
challenging.
The AI for the more recent BC Kings is more robust. You can also choose the
difficulty, so if you start with "Easy" some of the tricks you learn will stop
being useful (and you'll have to find new ones) as you move to "Normal", and
then "Hard".
Still, I recommend TDL. I find it's a game that I keep coming back to, even
though I'm so familiar with it that I doubt there are many surprises left.
Perhaps one day Mascot will release an addon program that will allow us to
make, share, and play singleplayer maps. One can only hope.
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