Posts from Orcs vs. Humans

And then, Darkness (I've probably written about this 8 times already) isn't a cure-all against Orcs.

Maxim Sorokin Attack The attentive reader may have already encountered this surname before. Now is the time to get acquainted with one of the many developments of this talented person, known in the Heroes world as Psionic. The attacking potential of his brilliant idea is most clearly revealed in prolonged games, when it is possible not only to gather a considerable number of troops under your banner but also to acquire good artifacts and, perhaps even more importantly, give your hero the necessary set of skills and abilities. We will start with the latter (remembering Shakespeare's saying: "Last but not least"). In general, it would be useful to immediately mention that it was developed as an alternative response to Elven aggression - in the final battle, almost half of their troops (and under Wingael's command - practically all) manage to go before the opponent's turn and destroy most of our army, and consequently, we are doomed to defeat. However, this can be fought against (and should be!). As in ancient times, everything here rests on three pillars – namely, the skills: "Speed Aura", "Storm Wind" and "Sharp Mind". Let us provide a complete list of the necessary skills and abilities: skillful "Leadership" ("Recruitment" + "Speed Aura" (required) and "Battle Frenzy" (recommended)); skillful "Light Negation" ("Resist Light" + "Storm Wind" (required); "Fire Shield" (recommended for breaking through, but may also be useful in the finale)); skillful "Logistics" ("Scouting" + "Sharp Mind" (required, but usually taken before the final battles by retraining at the mentor, and before that, during the preliminary clearing of neutrals, the recommended "Pathfinding" is practiced in conjunction with "Warfare" and "Pillage")); skillful "Attack" ("Tactics" (required - most often relevant for neutralizing the enemy's similar ability; very important: against Nibros (Inferno faction), you need to take any other skill, as he neutralizes our "Tactics" with his specialization while simultaneously retaining the ability to use his own), "Berserk" (recommended, but in our opinion almost mandatory) + "Retribution," which can be replaced with "Stunning Blow"); for the fifth one - choose between "Defense" (in most cases it is preferable) and "Luck," which seems more appropriate in this context, especially when enhanced with "Soldier's Luck" and "Magic Resistance." Those who are able to combine disparate factors will immediately notice that key importance in the proposed development scheme is given to the "Speed" indicator - all skills affecting it are used here. Therefore, a good addition to it is the artifact "Boots of Speed" and at least two items from the "Embrace of Death" set - although personally I would prefer the "Dragon Leggings" instead of boots. Among creatures, leaders are required (they support Cyclops), divided into 2-3 detachments, Daughters of Earth (also divided into 2-3 detachments) and 1 detachment of free Cyclopes (although their speed and initiative are 1 unit lower than those of Blood Cyclopes), taken thanks to "Crushing Blow". At the very beginning of the battle, our daughters cast "Haste" on the leaders and cyclopes, the barbarian hero shouts "War Cry" (not only a significant increase in the "Attack" parameter but also, most importantly: +1 to speed!) and after that you won't envy the enemy troops caught under the power of crushing Cyclopes.

Does anyone really understand the usefulness of combinations: mass slow + mass haste = we won't even see Orcs on ATB!

We've already seen this replay from Mdance and discussed it. This tactic is viable, but what will the Orc do when the Cyclops are controlled and the Shamans and Chieftains are destroyed?

For Lordesat:
The "Frightening Roar" spell perfectly counters control.