In the first campaign of The Winds of War, we get to
guide a young king Spazz Maticus through his quest to expand his domain a
little. The first target of his conquest is a region of Anduran Foothills,
which will give him the necessary resources to continue further to his
ultimate task of capturing Channon.
Spazz starts his quest as a Level 5 Witch King, with
advanced Chaos Magic, and basic Conjuration, Pyromancy, Nobility and Estates.
That's quite an interesting setup, as a Witch King is one of those classes
with cool bonus that you rarely get to actually play - he is imbued with the
ability to strike Fear in the hearts of his opponents, much like a Bone
Dragon. Unfortunately, the primary skills (Chaos and Nobility) make him
VERY vulnerable in combat, and it's likely he will change the class very
soon. Which he did, in my game - as I play on Champion difficulty, I find
that high Combat and Melee are an absolute must for survival.
Spazz doesn't start with any towns, but he has a rather
large army of Bandits, Orcs and Minotaurs at his disposal, and he knows some
basic spells, including direct damage. With these resources he shouldn't
have any trouble beating the nearby moderately-sized neutral armies,
and still have plenty of loose bandits to send as scouts. Too bad all the
mines around are undeveloped, and require an investment of Gold and other
resources - something you can't afford for now - to start
working. Fortunately, these mines can be flagged by creatures alone - just
leave a single bandit around to claim them when you earn the necessary
amount of Gold.
I recommend to head eastwards, liberating a soon-to-be Woodmill on the way. About a day's walk away there's a lightly guarded area
with a Learning Stone, a Treasure Chest, two Crystals (Speed and Magic) and
Surefooted Boots, all of which are very useful to get ASAP. Then you can
start capturing towns. There are three Asylums in the accessible area: One
is right in the center of the map, another lies in the south-east corner,
and the third can be found in the center-east. All of them are guarded
by the standard guards - about 50 of both Orcs and Bandits, and about 15
of either Minotaurs or Medusae. The order in which to capture them doesn't
really matter; I went for the central town first, then east and finally
south, but the east-north-center direction is just as viable, if not even
better, as you will be doing most of your further attacks from the central
town. In all of the Asylums you can build creature generators up to Level 3,
and all miscellaneous structures. Just don't forget to build and visit all
three Thieves' Gauntlets and Battle Academies!
When you secure all three cities, you will have just
three more tasks to complete:
1) Clear your conquered area of neutral creatures,
gathering artifacts, mines and resources, 2) attack the
northern "bonus" area, 3) and finally invade the north-eastern area and crush
Erutan's forces.
For now, you can focus on point 1. You will be safe from
Erutan for quite a some time, as the lightly guarded entrance to his domain
is overgrown with trees, and the other pass is heavily guarded with Level 4
units neither you nor he will be able to beat for quite a some time. The
bonus area is also heavily guarded by Unicorns; I found it easiest to leave
it alone until you capture some of Erutan's Preserves, as the Water
Elementals from their Portals can take care of the Unicorns quite easily. The
access to Erutan will open automatically late in the 5th week or early in the
6th.
Erutan's forces shouldn't present any serious problem, as
they only have one town for quite a long time, and only one stronger hero -
about level 10-12. He will probably manage to capture the two other
preserves by the time you reach him, but they will be underdeveloped and only
lightly guarded. You can easily conquer two Preserves, capturing the heroes
in the process. A small army of medusae placed in front of the remaining
town's gates will confine Erutan to his lair forever, giving you time to
attack the bonus area.
Which you should do once you are safe. The guards will
supply you with the much-needed experience points, not to mention the
numerous crystals, a library, and other bonuses. Water Elementals with their
Quicksand, Fatigue and Ice Bolt will let you kill the Unicorns quickly and
without any losses on your side. In the farthest corner of the bonus are you
will find Armor of Life, Mayhem Staff and Sandwalker's Sandals, which will
accompany you to the next map - a worthy bonus indeed.
When you are done with your work, return to Erutan and
finish him off. By that time my Spazz reached level 15, which is the maximum
level in this scenario, and became a Fireguard with master Combat and master
Chaos magic.
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