Warsong / Guide and Walkthrough

Warsong / Guide and Walkthrough

axlekerrigan@mac.com
Version 1.10
10/11/01

*Introduction*

 Welcome to Axle Kerrigan's complete guide to Warsong. I was 
introduced to Warsong many moons ago by my Uncle Jim. As a fellow RPG 
fan and a great gamer in his own right, he showed me that good RPGs CAN 
be found on the Genesis. Although Warsong could probably be considered 
a strategy genre game, I feel that its medieval overtones are enough to 
qualify it for RPG status (the same with Ogre Battle). I don't know why 
they call that genre "strategy" anyway. They're tactics games, not 
strategy. I digress. I understand that this game was originally called 
Langrisser or Lungrisser or some such. It matters not to me. I do 
wonder how much of the dialogue was cut or altered in the translation 
though...

 In writing this FAQ, nearly all of the material and tactics have 
been painstakingly researched over many trips through the game. 
However, some information has been borrowed from other sources. As a 
college student, it has been beaten into my being that all sources must 
be cited. First of all, my uncle is responsible for some the tactics 
and observations contained herein. In addition, I would like to credit 
Saint (saintly@innocnet.com) with a few borrowed numbers for spell costs 
and with the advancement scheme for Mina and Calais. His FAQ saved me 
countless hours of going through the game with each possible class 
combination to confirm years-old memories.

 UPDATE: Jason Chrapliwy is the man responsible for removing the 
wool from over my eyes and pointing out that Lords rule Scenario 12 just 
like they do every other scenario. Many thanks to Jason.


*Table Of Contents*

Introduction
Table Of Contents
Update Information
A Note On Abbreviations
A Note On The Computer AI
General Tips
Characters
Magic
Class Paths 
Units
Item Guide
Scenarios
Conclusion And Parting Thoughts
Warsong Quiz

*Update Information*

Version 1.10

- I fixed a few grammatical errors and added some spaces between 
paragraphs for aesthetic reasons.

- I reorganized the character class paths for easier readability.

- There are tons of new tactics and improvements on old tactics in the 
Scenarios section.

- Some misinformation has been corrected, specifically concerning magic 
immunities.

- For the Warsong trivia enthusiast, I've added a Warsong Quiz.

By the way, all updates will be preceded by "UPDATE:" so as to draw your 
attention to them.

*A Note On Abbreviations*

I will use many abbreviations throughout this guide. Here is a 
comprehensive list:

HP - Hit Points
MP - Magic (Mana) Points
AI - Artificial Intelligence (barely, see the section on computer AI)
MGS - Meat Grinder Syndrome (again, see the section on computer AI)
RPS - Rock, Paper, Scissors (see the section on units)
XP - Experience
NPC - Non-player Character (any computer-controlled ally)
RPG - Role Playing Game (such as Warsong)
WTHAYDMDMP! - See the section on computer AI
Various nicknames - These will be listed in the characters section

*A Note On The Computer AI*

The AI in Warsong is one of the worst ones ever programmed. The enemy 
is, in most cases, completely predictable. Then why play this game, you 
ask? Since you are almost always faced with enemies that have more 
and/or superior troops, the odds are somewhat evened. Add the fact that 
dead commanders remain dead forever (always start a scenario over if you 
lose a commander), and you suddenly have a moderately challenging game. 
I will now list the computer actions that you can always rely on, the 
ones you can usually rely on, and the truly aberrant behaviors that can 
be exploited. Note that these behaviors apply to both computer 
opponents AND computer-controlled allies (NPCs).

Always: 

Commanders at 7 HP or less will Treat. 

Commanders at 8 HP or more will never Treat, even if they are doing 
nothing else. That is an AI glitch that really should have been fixed. 

Troops at 6 HP or less and within the influence sphere of their 
commander will move toward their commander, adjacent if possible, and 
not attack.

Troops at any HP outside the influence sphere of their commander and 
unable to reach that sphere in one turn of movement will stay put and 
attack any adjacent enemy.

Troops at 7 HP or more will attack any enemy within range while 
remaining within their commander's influence sphere (Note: Since I began 
this FAQ I've seen a computer-controlled guardsman at 7 HP move next to 
the commander rather than attack. This is the only time I've ever seen 
this rule violated). 

Troops will try to double-, triple-, or quadruple-team an enemy unit 
whenever possible.

A commander will always act immediately before his/her troops act, if 
he/she is going to act at all. 

Usually: 

Commanders with magic will cast their most powerful spell at the nearest 
enemy commander. It is EXTREMELY rare for the computer to violate this 
rule unless there is an enemy unit adjacent to the spellcaster, but is 
does happen. In the case that there is an enemy unit adjacent to the 
spellcaster, the spellcaster will usually attack. 

The computer will use terrain and enemy unit weaknesses to its 
advantage. The computer will violate this rule fairly often. 

The computer values attacking troop targets over commanders. The 
computer rarely violates this rule, but it usually ruins your day when 
it does. 

Injured units without targets in range will move next to their 
commander. 

Uninjured units without targets will surround the commander in a 
predictable pattern. This rule and the previous one usually apply 
unless terrain or units get in the way. 

Troops will stay within the influence sphere of their commander. Again, 
certain terrain or gobs of units can interfere with this behavior, as 
can a commander with a faster movement than that of his/her troops.

Commanders with healing spells will usually use them on an allied 
commander if that commander is at 6 HP or lower and is within range of 
the spell. This behavior tends to supercede all others, but not always. 

Most computer commanders will move along the most direct path to the 
nearest enemy commander. Note that this is often not the quickest 
route, just the shortest. Also, the computer will violate this rule 
fairly often, such as the case of head commanders who stay put and 
occasional target priority. 

In some scenarios head commanders (ones for which the scenario ends when 
they die) will stay in a static location until all of their troops are 
dead. Obviously, this can be easily exploited (see the general tips 
section).

Dumb or Weird Behavior: 

The computer AI suffers from a chronic form of mental retardation that I 
have dubbed "Meat Grinder Syndrome." This disorder causes the computer 
to send wave after wave of troops to their destruction by attacking 
vastly superior opponents. Example: Lance has eight units of horsemen, 
each with 10 HP. Garett has one group of archers, also with 10 HP. 
Lance sends one of his horsemen to attack Garett's archers. The 
horsemen are mowed down without loss to the archers. Lance decides to 
send a second unit of horsemen to see if they do any better. They 
don't. Mystified, Lance sends his remaining six units of horsemen to 
their graves in rapid succession. On his next turn, Lance will hurl 
himself at the now laughing archers and possibly take a few with him as 
they fire a full volley of ten arrows into his supple hide. Although 
MGS can be exploited by the player, you should not get too cocky, 
because you will soon find that your NPC allies are also prone to this 
suicidal disease. Don't worry though. Any ally that dies will return 
in due course; only commanders that you control can die permanently.

Another strange behavior I have witnessed is an apparent glitch in the 
programming that I call "What The Hell Are You Doing Moving During My 
Phase!" WTHAYDMDMP! occurs when a computer unit moves and possibly 
attacks during the Player's Phase. I don't know why it happens, but a 
unit behaving in this way essentially gets to act twice as often as 
everyone else does. As such, it should be destroyed quickly.
UPDATE: Sometimes when an enemy troop is engaged in WTHAYDMDMP!, the 
computer becomes confused, pauses to process, and then puts the troops 
under the same commander as the buggy troop in strange formations. I 
guess you could benefit from in some cases, but mostly the computer's 
formations consist of useless posturing anyway.

The last bizarre behavior I have witnesses involves certain units being 
completely immune to magic for the duration of a whole scenario. It 
seems to happen to your commanders and to the enemy's commanders with 
about the same frequency. When this oddity occurs, both the commander 
and all of his/her troops will be unaffected by offensive spells for the 
entire scenario. Use this bug to your advantage, if you can.

*General Tips*

1) Be an XP glutton. There are a limited number of enemies in Warsong, 
and thus, a limited amount of XP. To combat this, kill EVERYTHING. 
Also, don't kill anything with Baldarov if you can help it. Use 
lizardmen and slimes to level up Mina and Calais, since they're about 
the only thing guardsmen can kill. Finally, don't kill the head 
commander of the scenario until last.

2) Be defensive. In many scenarios, you have the luxury of time. Find 
a choke point, park a commander or a line of troops in it, and let the 
enemy attack you. Then you can rotate out injured units to be healed 
and rotate in fresh ones to polish off the weakened enemy. Leaving a 
space open on one side of your commander helps with the rotations.

3) Use terrain. Most terrain offers a defensive bonus of some amount. 
Stick your troops in spaces with trees, mountains, or castle walls while 
forcing your opponents to attack from open fields, roads, or water. 
Exception: don't let lizardmen attack you from the water.

4) Exploit the Meat Grinder Syndrome. Most enemies have a troop type 
that they are weak against. The enemy will attack units that they have 
an advantage against if they get the opportunity. Don't give them one. 
If their only possible targets are units that will obliterate them, they 
will attack anyway to your vast amusement.

5) Use battle lines. Try to organize your troops into lines facing the 
enemy. This will limit the number of directions from which each unit 
can be attacked. The enemies will always try to overwhelm one unit with 
multiple attacks, so don't give them the chance.

6) Watch magic users. Enemy magic users love to throw spells. Since 
their behavior is fairly predictable in this regard, you should be able 
to anticipate it if you keep an eye on their spellcasters. Spread your 
troops out a square or two away from their commander to guard against 
small area of effect spells. Remember that a Bishop's Fire Ball spells 
have a huge area of effect.

7) Use your own magic users liberally. Don't bother hoarding magic. If 
you see a few troops with 1 or 2 HP standing in a clump, blast them. 
Chances are your spellcaster needs the XP anyway. Offensive magic can 
also be used to soften units to protect your units from annihilation. 
Remember, a commander with less than 10 HP cannot possibly do 10 HP of 
damage in an attack (certain troops can, though). Also, use healing 
magic if you need a unit to act rather than Treat or move next to the 
commander. Some of the later healing spells can heal a lot at once over 
a large area. Use this to your advantage. Side note: offensive magic 
cast by your commanders cannot harm your own units. Consequently, your 
healers won't heal enemy units within the area of effect.

8) Don't buy worthless troops. This applies mainly to guardsmen and 
mermen, although monks can qualify as well, and gryphons are often cost-
prohibitive. If you squander your money on pointless units, you can be 
sure you'll be short of cash when you need it later on. In addition, 
any position that can be easily held by one or two lone commanders can 
also invoke this tip. You'd be surprised how many scenarios can be won 
with no troops at all. I'll detail them in the scenarios section.

9) Troops you do buy are expendable. There is no refund, complete or 
partial, nor is there any bonus associated with keeping troops alive 
until the end of a scenario. Thus, the rational mind says to sacrifice 
your soldiers' lives when necessary. However, my mind is not completely 
rational, so I try to avoid losing units whenever possible. This stems 
more from a desire to dominate rather than mercy for pixel soldiers. 
Still, I have no sympathy for NPC allies who die because of MGS (ahem... 
Thorne!). I just let the morons die. Both of these are just a matter 
of personal preference; the lives of your followers don't really matter 
in Warsong.

10) Exploit static head commanders. Some head commanders will sit in 
one spot until all of their troops are destroyed. Use this to your 
advantage by placing a unit adjacent to the farthest reach of their 
influence sphere. The unit will be attacked by one enemy troop only, 
allowing you to switch out units to kill all of the enemy head 
commander's troops one by one. Watch out when you kill the last one, 
though, because the head commander will move and attack on his next 
phase.

11) Always keep your troops within their commanders' influence spheres. 
I really can't stress this one enough. There are VERY few instances 
where I would recommend ignoring this tip. Covering a retreat with 
useless troops or attacking vastly inferior enemies are the only cases I 
can think of. Leaving your troops without a leader is just asking for 
the enemy to slaughter them. Even the retarded computer will go out of 
its way to chew up lost soldiers.

12) You should nearly always carry at least a few archers around with 
some commander. Enemies tend to get reinforced in Warsong, and 
reinforcements tend to be horsemen. In most cases, 4 units should be 
plenty.

13) Always change all of your commanders' orders to manual. If you fail 
to do this with each of your commanders every scenario, sooner or later 
you will lose a whole formation and possible many troops to the 
computer's stupid AI. Besides, the manual symbol looks like a hand 
flipping the bird, and that's just cool (Up yours, Lance!).

14) Corral enemy commanders. After you've dealt with their troops, 
surround a commander on all sides with 10 HP troops. Chances are, they 
can't kill a unit in one shot, and you can switch out fresh troops until 
you are ready to deal with the commander.

15) Use your commanders. They are your greatest warriors. See a 
soldier unit with 7 HP? Don't send your 10 HP horsemen; you risk 
injuring them. Send a commander. Likely he/she will kill them all 
before they even close for melee. Exception: archers. Archers should 
usually be dealt with using soldiers (or equivalent), although Lords 
don't have much to fear from archers, or anything else for that matter. 
I love Lords.

*Characters*

Garett - The crown prince of Balatia. He starts out as a completely 
inexperienced Fighter. His only advantage at this point is that his 
troops receive a +2 attack bonus. No other Fighter in the game gets 
this bonus. Garett's other advantages include being one of two 
characters able to become a Grand Knight and the only character able to 
become a King (aside from Alfador, who dies in the first scenario). 
Garett should be an XP pig until you get him to his final class; then 
use him for support while you level the others.

Baldarov - Garett's protector for the first few scenarios, hereafter 
known as Baldy. Sword Master sounds like a cool class, but it's really 
not. Baldy sucks. Not only is he unable to gain XP, but he has trouble 
taking on a Lord by himself. The only thing he is good for is softening 
up units for Garett to finish off. His whopping +9 defensive bonus will 
help him in this role.

Sabra - Sabra is a retainer to King Alfador, an apparent punk rocker 
(love the pink hair), and my favorite character. She, along with 
Garett, is one of only two characters who can become a Grand Knight. 
Alternatively, she can become a Dragon Knight, the only one aside from 
Lance, who has his ass kicked so many times that he doesn't deserve the 
honor of fighting alongside your heroes. If you make Garett a Knight, 
go the Lord route with Sabra, and vice versa. That way you get a Grand 
Knight either way.

Calais - The court mage of Balatia. First off, for the love of God, her 
name is pronounced "Kha - lay", not "Ka - lay - is." Anyway, she starts 
out as a level 5 Warlock, although she will likely be level 7 or 8 by 
the end of the first scenario. Calais does okay as an Arch Mage, but if 
you're particularly enterprising, you can go the long route to the 
Saint. In any case, level her whenever lizardmen or slimes appear on 
the scene.

Tiberon - A former pirate (Arrrr...) turned soldier in service to King 
Alfador. What can I say? I like him, despite his laughable beginnings 
as a Crocodile Knight, a class so lame that Emperor Pythion refuses to 
employ them. Don't, don't, don't make Tibs a Serpent Knight. If you 
do, the game designers will screw you by refusing to put water in the 
second half of the game, leaving you with a very slow knight surrounded 
by pitiful mermen. Although Knight Master is a mediocre class and will 
take Tibs longer to get to, you will avoid the above tragedy.

Mina - Mina is a travelling cleric, apparently, and although it's 
unclear whether Garett and Mina know each other previously (I blame bad 
or incomplete translation), they eventually fall in love. Awww. Mina 
is a weak character who eventually transforms into a badass, provided 
you make the right choices. The only option open to you is a Saint, 
unless you want a lousy combatant with redundant healing spells. Like 
Calais, Mina likes to eat lizardmen and slimes in order to build strong 
muscles and devastating magic.

Thorne - I hate Thorn. He is a soldier of Duke Carleon's (it seems) and 
an idiot. He looks like a Jarhead, complete with American flag waving 
in the background. His actions while under computer control only 
reinforce my argument that he is blessed with sub-normal intelligence 
and a lack of self-preservation instincts. Anyway, your only choices 
for Thorne are a Magic Knight or a Knight Master. I would argue that 
Magic Knights are substantially better, but you might want to end up 
with two of each.

Bayard - My uncle always calls him Bernard, despite the fact that I 
always refer to him as Bayard. I guess he misread the name the first 
time and refuses to change it in his head. In any case, Bayard is the 
commander in charge of a Balatian outpost and is identical to Thorne 
aside from his face and a slightly better AI whilst under computer 
control.

Carleon - By the time you get control of Duke Carleon, or as I like to 
call him, Dukie, he is so far behind your other commanders in experience 
that you may feel like sticking him in the back and forgetting about 
him. I stress you to not do this. Instead, work on Dukie over the next 
couple of scenarios until he is comparable to Thorne and Bayard. I have 
a suspicion that Dukie is secretly Thorne's brother. Look at the 
evidence: they have identical abilities, both have blonde hair, both are 
stupid...

Lance - Lance is a Royal Guard when you fight him and a Dragon Knight 
when he joins you later. You can imagine the obvious reasons. Pythion 
is allergic to dragons, so he forbade Lance the use of one, despite 
Lance's ability to ride one. Also, Pythion gets chilly easily due to 
his buff, fat-free physique, so he forbade Lance to use his Blizzard 
spell and gave him a Wand of Lightning Bolts instead. Once free of said 
emperor, Lance returned to the Dragon-riding, ice-wielding lifestyle he 
so loved, but he lost the Wand during his cowardly flight from Pythion's 
last stand of this story is: Screw Lance. Sabra can do 
anything he can do, and she's not a dirty traitor.

Alfador - King of Balatia, Defender of Warsong, Father of Garett, and 
Dead by Scenario Two! If you want a glimpse of Garett as a King, take a 
look at Alfador's stats in Scenario 1. Don't bother looking at enemy 
Grand Knights though, Garett's stats as a Dino-rider are better (same 
with Sabra).

Random Fighters - Later on in the game, you are forced to park some of 
your commanders so that a couple of generic Fighters can temporarily 
join your side. I think this is purely to make the game harder, as they 
are food for any enemy unit that wants to bother engaging them. Which 
they all seem to.

Assorted Other Uniques - Throughout Warsong there are several other 
unique characters you will run into, such as Pythion, Great Dragon, 
Efreet, and others. These will be dealt with in the units and scenarios 
sections.

*Magic*

Ah magic, the one thing an RPG can't exist without. Spells don't 
usually make a huge impact in Warsong; their use is more subtle. 
Healing spells are convenient, but usually not necessary. Destruction 
spells are used to soften or finish off units, rather than cripple them. 
Status affecting spells don't do much in the way of affecting anyone's 
status in Warsong; they almost always fail. Below is a list of all the 
spells of Warsong:

Healing 1 - 2 MP - Heals ~1 HP
Healing 2 - 4 MP - Heals ~3 HP
Healing 3 - 8 MP - Heals ~6 HP
Magic Arrows - 2 MP - Deals ~1 HP
Fire Ball - 4 MP - Deals ~2 HP
Fire Ball - 8 MP - Deals ~3 HP
Thunder - 4 MP - Deals ~3 HP
Lighting Bolt - 4 MP - Deals ~2 HP
Blizzard - 4 MP - Deals ~2 HP
Tornado - 8 MP - Deals ~4 HP
Earthquake - 16 MP - Deals ~1 HP, destroys random walls
Sleep - 4 MP - Puts units to sleep
Paralyze - 4 MP - Same as sleep, basically
Confusion - 8 MP - Units attack their allies
Petrify - 0 MP - Turns units to stone (dead); only the Basilisks have 
this spell

You may notice that there are two Fire Ball spells. One is the cheap 
one most classes get, while the other is the expensive, dragon-summoning 
version that is limited to Bishops.

A note on XP and spells: After a commander reaches level 5 in his/her 
class, the range, area of effect, and HP healed or dealt of all spells 
increase by 1.

*Class Paths*

Here's the lowdown. A commander gets enough XP to get to level 10. 
That character then can change to a new, more powerful class (usually). 
Now I'll illustrate the paths each commander can take:

Garett
Fighter -> Lord or Knight
Lord -> King or Magic Knight
Knight -> Grand Knight or Knight Master

Sabra
Fighter -> Lord or Knight
Lord -> Dragon Knight or Magic Knight
Knight -> Grand Knight or Knight Master
Magic Knight -> Ranger

Tiberon
Crocodile Knight -> Serpent Knight or Knight
Knight -> Knight Master

Mina
Cleric -> Priestess or Warlock
Priestess -> High Priestess or Saint
Warlock -> Bishop or Wizard
Wizard -> Archmage or Magic Knight
Magic Knight -> Ranger

Calais
Warlock -> Wizard or Cleric
Wizard -> Archmage or Magic Knight
Cleric -> (See Mina's path)
Magic Knight -> Ranger

Thorne
Fighter -> Lord or Knight
Lord -> Magic Knight
Knight -> Knight Master

Bayard
(See Thorne's path)

Carleon
(See Thorne's path)

 UPDATE: Note that Calais can go down Mina's path by changing to a 
Cleric at first class change. Also note that Mina's Warlock is 
different from Calais's in that it can become a Bishop. So if you want 
Calais to become a Bishop (I can't imagine why anyone would want that; 
I'm just saying.), she has to become a Cleric, become a Warlock AGAIN, 
and then become a Bishop.

Now I will describe the various classes:

Fighter - They have a single attack and can kill weakened troops.

Sword Master - a.k.a. Baldy. He sucks. Nice defense bonus, though.

Lord - Lords also have a single attack and can kill even fully healed 
troops some of the time. Lords laugh at archers. Also, they have a 
minor healing spell. I love Lords.

Knight - Don't attack archers with a Knight, you might lose him/her. 
They eat up soldiers and horsemen, though. These aren't nearly as 
useful as Lords are, due to their shooter attack and lower defense. 
However, you'll need horsemen before people start reaching their final 
classes, so you'd better make at least two Knights (Tibs will be one, 
and Garett or Sabra the other).

Magic Knight - These guys have Thunder, which hurts. I recommend. I 
wish the final Lord class was more Lord-like, though instead of another 
shooter-knight type.

Knight Master - These have Lightning Bolt, which kind of sucks. They 
have slightly better numbers than Magic Knights, but Thunder is SO much 
better than Lightning Bolt.

Grand Knight - The only final class with no magic, but it doesn't 
matter, because Grand Knights tear ass. There're better than Kings and 
Dragon Knights in my opinion, but if you send both Garett and Sabra down 
the Knight path, you're doing without archers for while, which will be a 
MAJOR pain.

King - Garett as a King gets Magic Arrows (lame) and Healing 1 (lame). 
His attack and defense are good, though, so take the King over the Grand 
Knight if you can't live without magic or you want to cater to the 
story. Note: sending Garett down this path will make the first third of 
the game significantly easier.

Dragon Knight - Sabra can dish out some hurt as a Dragon Knight. Plus, 
she can hide in mountains and walls and sports a mean Blizzard spell. 
Overall, though, I think Grand Knight is better.

Crocodile Knight - Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Serpent Knight - Don't make this thing. Trust me.

Warlock - Needs virtually no XP to level up, decent attack, you should 
leave this behind fairly early.

Cleric - This is the hardest class to level. Their attack is weak for a 
commander and defense sucks, too. Add to that a dependency upon 
guardsmen and you have a junk class. Kill slimes and lizardmen to 
advance.

Wizard - A decent class, it has Fire Balls and soldiers (with a big 
attack bonus). The attack sucks, though.

Priestess - A new healing spell, monks, and a slightly better attack. 
Upgrade quickly.

Arch Mage - Resistance to magic, a strong attack (although poorly 
executed), Earthquake, and tons of Fire Balls. At level 5 with the wand 
equipped, Earthquake can do nice damage to the entire screen at once. A 
decent overall class.

Bishop - This isn't as good as the Archmage, High Priestess, or Saint, 
despite the upgraded Fire Ball. Confusion sucks. Don't bother. 
UPDATE: There is one benefit to the Bishop class. Warlock is far, far 
easier to level up than Priestess, so you could get Mina (or Calais) to 
her final class earlier than you would be able to if you went for Saint.

Saint - Mina finally has worth! Fire Ball, Tornado, and Healing 2. Oh, 
the power... Her attack is strong as well, a single attack lightning bolt 
that rips through the enemy. Rock!

High Priestess - What? Sleep? Healing 3? No, go with the Saint. Much 
better.

Ranger - Sort of a secret class, in that the manual doesn't mention it. 
It looks more like a fat, little ninja with throwing stars than a 
ranger. Only Mina, Calais, and Sabra can become a Ranger, and only 
after level 10 as a Magic Knight. It's a lot of work, but nothing can 
stand against a Ranger with the Evil Axe, even golems. It gets 
Earthquake, too. Downsides? No troops, and tons of XP to get there.

Note: Shooter attacks tend to suck; often some enemies will slip through 
or engage before they can be targeted. Single attacks are better, hence 
the usefulness of Lords and Saints.

 Obviously you have some choices in final classes. I would 
recommend Garett a King, Sabra a Grand Knight, Calais an Arch Mage, Mina 
a Saint, Tibs a Knight Master, Thorne a Magic Knight, Bayard a Magic 
Knight, and Dukie a Magic Knight. The choices are yours though, and the 
game is beatable with ANY combination, so have fun with it. Also keep 
in mind that you should still feed XP to your final classes until they 
get to level 5 so that you get the increased magic effectiveness. 
Obviously, this doesn't apply to the Grand Knights.

*Units*

 I'll be honest. I'm not going to list every statistic for every 
unit in the game. It's a waste of time, since you can look at their 
stats any time you encounter them. I will, however, address the pros 
and cons of each unit and discuss any magic they might have at their 
disposal. Also, note the RPS relationships between units in Warsong. 
Just like in real life.

The Good Guys:

Soldiers - Soldiers kill archers. Their movement is fair and isn't too 
affected by terrain. Your basic unit, expect a lot of these to die.

Archers - Archers kill horsemen. They aren't slowed by forests, and 
they actually get an extra defense bonus in the trees. They have the 
advantage of getting the first strike because of their ranged attack, 
but at best they can only kill one enemy for each archer. "One shot, 
one kill."

Horsemen - Horsemen kill soldiers. Simple, no? Horsemen have a great 
movement, but it really suffers in mountains, forests, and indoors. 
They also have the ability to kill a 10 HP enemy troop in one attack 
even when they have less than 10 HP, provided they substantially 
outclass them. Before moving on to the more exotic units, it should be 
noted that soldiers don't kill archers as well as horsemen kill 
soldiers, who, in turn, are simply massacred by archers.

Guardsmen - Guardsmen can inexplicably go toe to toe with lizardmen and 
they chew up slimes. Don't use them against ANYTHING else.

Mermen - They suck; never buy them.

Citizens - They are only listed for sake of completeness. You can never 
control them, and they are cannon fodder for anything that comes along. 
Occasionally, they provide comic relief by killing one enemy soldier 
despite their attack power of 0. Laugh or cry, but don't mourn the 
worthless Citizens of Balatia.

Monks - Monks are like archers, only they aren't as good. Limited 
usefulness, even against undead. UPDATE: Monks do pretty well against 
soldiers, but they have a hard time with archers. Also, they do tear up 
skeletons pretty badly; I don't know why I thought they didn't before.

Gryphons - These aren't as good as they seem. Think of them as really 
expensive horsemen who have slightly better movement and who aren't 
affected by terrain. By the time Sabra is a Dragon Knight, she probably 
won't need troops anymore anyway. Save your money.

The Bad Guys:

Soldiers - Same as the Good Guy equivalent.

Dark Elves - Archers, only with a +1 to attack power.

Horsemen - Same as the Good Guy equivalent.

Elementals - These guys make an appearance during the first and last 
scenarios. They are tough as shit and have no weaknesses.

Lizardmen - These guys get a major advantage on water. On land, they go 
about one for one with soldiers and guardsmen.

Barbarians - Horsemen tear these guys up.

Slimes - My uncle calls them gumdrops. Whatever you want to call them 
(blobs, boogers, goo, etc.), slimes are a staple monster for lazy game 
designers (they're so easy to draw!). In Warsong, use guardsmen or 
commanders. Anything else is a stalemate at best.

Royal Soldiers - Like soldiers, only stronger and tougher. Use 
horsemen, or, better yet, commanders. Don't waste these, they give more 
XP than other troops.

Leviathans - Horsemen do pretty well against these. Don't fight them in 
water, though.

Gargoyles - These are a pain. Use archers and be prepared to rotate 
them a lot.

Styracosaurs - Also a pain. Horsemen do the best.

Evil Ants - Not only is it a giant ant, but it's evil as well! Again, 
horsemen or commanders.

Were Wolves - I don't use anything but commanders in this level, so I 
don't know what troops work well. By the by, isn't "werewolf" one word?

Carrion Crawlers - I have no idea what these are supposed to be. 
Caterpillars, maybe? Whatever. Use horsemen or commanders.

Skeletons - The Undead don't seem to have a real weakness. Monks do 
better than the numbers say they should, but that doesn't mean they do 
well. Use horsemen or commanders. UPDATE: Monks kick skeleton butt 
(pelvis?). They will serve you MUCH better than horsemen will.

Golems - These are immune to magic and virtually indestructible. Only a 
Ranger with the Evil Axe stands a chance of killing them. They can't 
hurt you either, though, so just go after their commander and move on. 
UPDATE: Golems CAN be harmed by magic, unless you are unlucky and they 
get the magic immunity bug. Now you can rack up even more XP. Bully!

You might notice that many of the later enemies are best fought with 
horsemen or commanders. I think the folks at Treco got lazy.

The Bad Guy Commanders:

Fighter - This guy is just like your Fighters; he sucks. A Lord will 
humble him easily. Interestingly, these guys come in two flavors: lime 
and blueberry.

Lord - He's just like your Lords. Strong defense, you're going to need 
a commander to fight him to stand a chance.

Bishop - These guys are not fun. They have the upgraded Fire Ball and 
they give big bonuses to their troops. If I weren't such an XP glutton, 
I'd say forget about their troops and kill them quickly, but the wasted 
XP really makes me cringe.

Serpent Knight - I wonder if all these dudes had to progress through the 
embarrassing Crocodile Knight phase as well. Lead them on to land and 
use two or three commanders with good defense.

Knight - Just like yours, only dumb. These guys love to attack archers. 
I say let them, it's their funeral.

Great Slime - Use guardsmen or commanders. Anything else won't scratch 
them. These things have a tendency to outrun their own troops.

Royal Guard - a.k.a. Lance. Watch out for his Lightning Bolt. He only 
gets one, fortunately. For fun and profit, present Lance with archers. 
After feeding all of his troops into them, he will sacrifice himself as 
well. You might lose one archer unit, though.

Kraken - I don't know why giant squids are hanging out in the Worth 
River or why their ink is so deadly, but there they are, nevertheless. 
Lead them on land and use magic and commanders to end their mysterious 
existence.

Grand Knight - Their attack and defense are weaker than those of your 
Grand Knights are and their troop attack bonus is less as well. A pair 
of commanders with good defense can usually take one of these out 
without much danger.

Arch Mage - These guys are a lot like Bishops, except their Fire Ball is 
the lesser variety, and they get more of them.

Wyvern - Each Wyvern is actually ten little dragons in a bunch, more 
like a troop than a commander. They have a couple of weak Fire Balls 
and are always accompanied by gargoyles.

Wizard - The Wizard is virtually identical to the Arch Mage except it 
gets Blizzard instead of Fire Ball. Which really isn't a difference at 
all.

Kaiser - a.k.a. Emperor Pythion. Pythion is like a King, only stronger 
in almost every way. He carries a Blizzard spell as well. Fight him 
with care.

Basilisk - These guys have a Petrify spell with infinite uses. Hit them 
fast and hard to keep them Treating themselves and they won't get to use 
it. Since they are like Wyverns in that they are actually 10 monsters 
serving as a commander, your own commanders will bust them up. Other 
than their one spell, Basilisks are pretty much a joke.

Queen Ant - These charming gals always lead evil ants into battle and 
spew corrosive spittle at their enemies. They have a high attack rating 
and good movement, but their defense is poor.

Were Wolf - I don't know why these commanders and their troops have the 
same (misspelled) name. You don't need silver, just a commander with an 
attack-boosting item and a choke point. Even Mina can smoke these guys.

Gorgosaur - Another 10-commanders-in-one unit, these guys are a little 
tougher than the others of their kind are. They get 3 Fire Balls and 
are usually dragging styracosaurs around with them.

Great Dragon - This guy is a badass. With 4 Fire Balls with big damage, 
35 attack and 35 defense, plus nice troop bonuses, Monster (that's his 
name) truly is a great dragon. You have to fight this guy twice, but 
each time he can be humbled by spell assault combined with the Evil Axe 
in the hands of a commander with a high attack rating.

Conjurer - a.k.a. Naxos. He gets 4 Blizzards and a bunch of golems, but 
his attack and defense are pitiful. He is immune to magic, so wait for 
an opening in his ranks and hit him with a commander or two. UPDATE: 
Like his golems, Naxos is only immune to magic when he gets the immunity 
bug. He is even more pathetic than I thought!

Living Armor - For some reason, these guys are all named, "The guards." 
They look and attack just like Baldy, but don't be mislead; these boys 
are tough. They also have a pair of Blizzards up their sleeves 
(gauntlets?). Two or three commanders can take them down.

Sorcerer - a.k.a. Mortimus. He looks just like Naxos, but he has 
slightly better stats and a worthless Paralyze spell. No worries.

Wight - a.k.a. Ganelon. Somehow I think this guy had a much larger role 
in the Japanese version. Your characters seem to know him and are 
surprised to find him alive. He'll hit you with a couple of Thunders 
and then attack you Saint-style. Rotate commanders and destroy.

????? (The Final Boss) - Rather than risk spoilers, I'll just wait until 
the scenarios section to discuss this chap.

As far as enemy commanders go, think of them as exceptional examples of 
their own minions. Example: Lance doesn't like archers, but they won't 
usually waste him in one go. Any mould-breaking commanders will be 
addressed in the scenarios section.



*Item Guide*

You pick up a variety of magical items along the way during your quest, 
often accompanied by humorous quotes such as, "The power of the Cross is 
now mine!" or "It's the Mystic Orb. Take it with us! Go!" Each item 
gives the equipped commander a bonus (or minus) to attack, defense, 
both, or neither. Some items give the commander an advantage of some 
sort. Below is the list and effects of each item:

Great Sword: +2 to attack
Cross: +2 to defense
Wand: +2 to attack, commander's spells do +1 HP
Shield: +4 to defense
Warsong: +4 to attack, +4 to defense
Evil Axe: +8 to attack, -10 to defense
Dragon Slayer: +5 to attack, +3 to defense
Amulet: +2 to defense, commander's influence range is doubled
Orb: commander's spells use 1/2 normal MP

Note that the user of the Orb must be able to meet the full original 
cost of the spell in order to cast it; the Orb gives the 1/2 MP benefit 
after the spell is cast. Think of it as a rebate. Also note that the 
bonuses only apply to the commander, not his/her troops.

*Scenarios*

Scenario 1 - Escape From The Castle

Victory: Escape of Garett
Defeat: Death of Garett

 The introductory level can be won in three basic ways. First, you 
can simply run Garett up to the stone wall at the top of the screen. 
Quick and easy. However, you'll be sacrificing XP this way. The second 
approach is to buy eight soldiers with Garett and take out the Lord 
guarding the bridge, then escape. If you are feeling particularly 
slick, you can try method three, which is the elimination of all enemy 
troops. It can be done, but it's tough and requires some luck. In any 
case, you should wait until Calais, Sabra, and Tibs are dead before 
exiting the stage as you could be robbing them of XP otherwise (one time 
Calais killed all of the lizard men and the Serpent Knight by herself 
and got to level 9). If you want to kill everything and rack up some 
extra dough, use Baldy to attack the Bishop when there's an opening. 
Don't worry about the XP loss to Garett, he can't handle a Bishop or 
elementals at this point anyway. If you get Calais two or three levels 
or and Garett to level 2, count this scenario as a victory and move on.

Scenario 2 - To Sulras

Victory: Escape of Mina
Defeat: Death of Garett or Mina

 This level has three possible approaches. One, form a wall around 
Mina and let her s l o w l y make the journey to the upper wall. This 
method sucks. Two, get horsemen with Baldy and let him lay waste. 
Better, but still not the best use of your resources. Three, be an XP 
hog. I shall now explain... 

 First off, buy eight archers with Baldy. They have a strong 
tendency to wound the enemies without killing them and with minimal 
casualties to themselves. Put Baldy in the north position and Garett in 
the south. Now comes the tricky part. On the first turn, move Baldy so 
that he is exactly five squares north of Mina (four squares of 
intervening space). Move up the archers too, but leave the square just 
south of Baldy open. Mina will fill it. Then stall for one more turn. 
Garett can be cleaning up after the archers during this time. On turn 
three move Baldy four more squares north, so he is on the first mountain 
square in that axis. Again, leave his south square open and move up the 
archers. After turn three, move your archers so that there is one north 
of Baldy, one east of that guy, three east of Baldy, and three east of 
Mina. This L-shaped pattern makes for a perfect Minatrap, since she 
can't move far enough to go north or east.

 After that, Garett can truck around picking off weak barbarians 
and Shamans. Occasionally, this setup will cause Mina to run south for 
a turn or two, but she's not in any real danger from the enemies in this 
scenario; plus, she'll soon return to her prison cell provided you have 
kept it free of units. Also, occasionally Baldy's archers will finish 
off a barbarian or two or a Shaman. Unless you lose more than five or 
six such units, Garett will be a Knight or Lord by the end of this 
scenario. Lastly, the archers can be left where they are until they get 
down to 4 HP. If one group does get beaten down to 4 or less 
(unlikely), then move one archer away from Baldy, move the wounded 
archer where that guy was, and move Garett were the wounded archer was. 
On the next turn or two, you can put everyone back where they go and 
continue the XP harvest. Oh, one last piece of advice: turn the game 
speed to fast before you finish off the last enemy or your conversation 
with Dukie will take forever.

 UPDATE: Upon playing the game through again, I've noticed that 
Mina can get killed by a lucky attack in this configuration. If you 
aren't the gambling type, buy two soldiers for Garett and place them in 
the two squares in the above configuration that cannot be attacked from 
any side (the squares are immediately north and east of Baldy's square). 
Then use the two displaced archers to cover Mina's rump.

Scenario 3 - Surprise Attack

Victory: Death of Malvese
Defeat: Death of Garett or Mina

 Another chance for crazy XP. Get Garett 4 horsemen or 8 soldiers 
and buy just one archer for Baldy. When the level starts rush the 
barbarians to the north with Garett and run Baldy to the nearest 
building with a one square-wide door. His only function in this 
scenario will be to stand behind his archer to keep it alive. UPDATE: 
If the archer is just injured for 1 or 2, it's a good idea to leave it; 
there's less chance it will kill off a group of barbarians. After 
dealing with the northern barbarians, go east, and north or south as 
needed, killing all in your path. Exception: Malvese. Don't kill him 
until last. In fact, if Thorne pulls a hero stunt and kills Malvese 
prematurely, I recommend you start the level over. There's just too 
much easy XP to be had here to be wasting it.

 Just let the barbarians ride over Thorne, and Baldy will hold most 
of them at bay with little XP lost. Since Garett should be a Lord or a 
Knight by now, he shouldn't be in much danger. Just play clean up like 
the last scenario. It's worth noting that the Shamans are more 
dangerous to a Knight than they are to a Lord (but then, just about 
everything is). Take care with them if you go down the Grand Knight 
path. Also, make sure none of the Shamans make a beeline for Mina. 
You'll have to chase them down if they do.

Scenario 4 - The Wood Of Lost Souls

Victory: Survive to Turn 10, Enemy Phase
Defeat: Death of Garett

 This is the most one-sided battle in the game. Don't buy any 
troops. The slimes will kill every archer and soldier you have, and 
horsemen can't hurt them. Just run southwest as fast as you can. After 
a few turns, Mina and Thorne will show up. Then all you have to do is 
laugh with glee as Mina's guardsmen eat all the slimes. Thorne's 
bloodlust seemingly wasn't sated in the last level, so he's brought some 
more soldiers to sacrifice. The key to this scenario is to try to limit 
the distance Mina has to travel to get to the slimes. Done correctly, 
(and with a little luck) the guardsmen will clear out most of the map, 
getting Mina to level 9 or better. I recommend playing this level over 
until you get her to be a Priestess. Cleric is a horrible class to try 
to level.

 UPDATE: I've found that running Baldy west just south of the lake 
will draw all of the slimes toward him, leaving Garett and Sabra to flee 
southwest. Baldy tends to stalemate with slimes, but leave him at 7 to 
9 HP just to be sure. If you like, you can buy a few horsemen to help 
keep the heat off of Garett and Sabra, but it isn't at all necessary.

Scenario 5 - Army Of The Empire

Victory: Death of Lance
Defeat: Death of Garett

 This level can be tough, depending on your choices thus far. It 
stems from the fact that Lance has a good amount of horsemen with him 
(get used to this). If Garett is Lord, his archers will be able to 
humble them without any trouble. If you're going for the Grand Knight, 
though, you'll have to rely on horsemen or commanders to deal with all 
the enemy cavalry (you did get Mina to Priestess, didn't you?), which 
isn't nearly as effective. Worst case: Baldy gets archers and wastes XP 
like crazy. 

 That said, buy 8 horsemen or archers with Garett. Sabra and 
Thorne each get 8 soldiers. Deploy them in this order: Archers (or 
horsemen) far east, soldiers next, one naked commander after that, and 
Baldy last. Now run everyone east as fast as you can and try to 
bottleneck the enemy in the mountain pass. Switch out troop types as 
needed to maintain RPS advantage, and leave a square or two by each 
commander for rotations. Make sure you leave space in between your 
different forces, or you will limit your own movement and sacrifice the 
advantage that the pass gives you. The enemy will just cram all their 
troops into a huge block and pay a big butcher's bill. Don't forget 
about Lance's Lighting Bolt (caterpillar) spell; it can be nasty in 
dense formations. Also, it can be tricky getting rid of the enemy 
commanders in this tight space. You can soften them up with Baldy or 
just corral them with troops (they probably won't kill a whole unit in 
one attack) and take them on one at a time. Remember to kill Lance 
last. Use this scenario to build Sabra up to level 10 and change her 
class to the opposite of whatever you've made Garett.

 I'd be willing to admit there are other ways to take on this 
scenario, but they would almost certainly involve Baldy wasting XP. 
Credit for my recommended tactic goes to my Uncle Jim. However, beating 
this level with Garett as a Knight without using Baldy is exceedingly 
hard, and if you can do it, why are you reading this FAQ? If you must, 
use archers with Baldy as a last resort and shed a bitter tear for all 
that lost XP.

 UPDATE: I've developed a second set of tactics for this scenario 
that should enable a player to waste no XP even if Garett is a Knight. 
Buy the same troops as before, but run all of your commanders to the 
middle as quickly as possible. Your goal is to get all six commanders 
into the narrow pass in the middle of the map; there is a particularly 
narrow point that can be held with three commanders in a diagonal 
pattern. 

https/gamefaqs.gamespot.com/genesis/586591-warsong/faqs/14315