No,no,no. Does not work.

[LeftPaw]

Having random camp encounters were the enemy has twice the number of units, at twice the strength, and is twice as likely the get a ranged shot does not work.

My first big black negative on the game. It's a shame it was all going extremely well up that moment. Why would you put something like that into the game? Maybe playing on suicide mode, but normal, really?

[Nova]

What does your party look like? Have you made sure to assign equipment and traps and barricades?

[LeftPaw]

My party is at a early stage and only had a few barricades. Assigned equipment was around 5-7 for each member of the party.
I had not long fought the rebels at their ambush site, we were out numbered and it was a hard battle, but we pulled though.
This was a random camp event, which was ridiculous. The whole battle lasted around 2 turns and my party was wiped out.
I can understand a particular event that you know is going to be difficult, but gives your party a opportunity to build up it's strength, but for the game to simply wipe you out with probably 0% chance of survival is a little over the top, don't you think? It does very little for the 'feel-good-factor'

[Jack Dandy]

Maybe you shouldn't feel good. You are on an expedition in a strange, unfamiliar territory. It's not supposed to be all sunshine and happiness.

[LeftPaw]

Originally posted by Jack Dandy:

Maybe you shouldn't feel good. You are on an expedition in a strange, unfamiliar territory. It's not supposed to be all sunshine and happiness.

Easy for you to say, but for your information I am no longer on an expedition in a strange and unfamiliar territory. You might have heard that my party was wiped out while attempting a expedition in a strange and unfamiliar territory.
My game is over. I no longer exist, you are talking to a ghost. :)

[LeftPaw]

Random events.
Last out for 9 turns. Very funny.
They never miss a shot, you miss every shot. when they hit you they take near half you hp, when you hit them, it's a scratch. They seem not to need ability cool-down and use them every turn. And they are twice your number.

Stop the locals from stealing your supply's. Very funny.
They use sneak without cool-down and you loose if one escapes. You loose.

A fantastic and absorbing game marred by some terrible and ridiculous random events.
I am flabbergasted.

[Nova]

The AI plays by the exact same rules as you do. If you're not hitting with your ranged shots, and they are, you're just unlucky. Sneak doesn't have cool down, but halves your moves.
Also, assign all your equipment to only the guys you're bringing into combat. If you're spreading it out across your entire party, you're not going to be very effective.

[LeftPaw]

All random events leading up to the start of the silly one's were fine and only added to the atmosphere.

I played 'last out for 9 turns' 3 times all with the same result. Simply put this was not fun. If you have no chance of winning then there is no game, and the event may as well been a text event telling you that you have been beaten by rebels and you loot has been stolen, the same apply's for the thieves.

I have no idea how many more of these silly random event adorn the game, but they take away everything that you have worked hard to gain. I strongly suspect that many more people have given up at this point.

I really don't want to troll, you are a small developer with some great ideas and you deserve better. I wish you luck in your future release's but I think I am done here.
What was a golden goose has turned into a frozen chicken. :)

[Nova]

You know, you could consider lowering the difficulty, if you're finding the game too challenging. No shame in that, it is an admittedly hard game.

[Jonas]

Man, sometimes you're hit by things you can't handle. You can power through, or if that gets too frustrating, that's what the Retreat button is for. The game is designed so you can lose all but one very specific battle and you can still keep on playing - it's not a game over, you just need to be extra careful while you recover. If you're unwilling to accept defeat, ever, maybe this just isn't your kind of game.

[LeftPaw]

Over my years I must have played every hex/square tactical game ever made, they are my favorite type of game.
This is not a matter of it being hard, but of it being impossible. If it happened once, not so bad. If it happened twice, you could get over it. But I would make a guess that there are many more occurrences of this throughout the game.
A rapid decline of interest is inevitable.

[Jack Dandy]

Your guess is wrong.

[Abraxes]

Originally posted by Joote:

Having random camp encounters were the enemy has twice the number of units, at twice the strength, and is twice as likely the get a ranged shot does not work.

My first big black negative on the game. It's a shame it was all going extremely well up that moment. Why would you put something like that into the game? Maybe playing on suicide mode, but normal, really?

It takes a while to learn how to play... steep learning curve. You can prevail with preparation and the proper tactics.

Trust me... I had the same frustration as you, and I've become much more skilled at how to play in order to prepare my troops... getting and allocating gear (ie, Equipment), choosing the right units, freeing up money for gear purchases by mastering the hunting minigame, how and when to promote what units, and what abilites to select. Ranged units are useless, to begin... hunters don't do well until they become veterans.

Keep trying; once you get it down you'll think the combat is too easy. And this is a gem of a game... it just doesn't hold your hand all the way to victory.

[Ric]

Bring two doctors and do everything you can to bottleneck the enemy with barricades & traps. Only bring one hunter into battle: They're not useless, but they're good for softening enemies.

When your two doctors have their second healing ability, you will instantly see fantastic results, considering that you will be able to consistently heal between two turns, given the short cooldowns of each heal.

I was able to plough through hard mode on my first attempt of Expeditions: Conquistador with 2 soldiers, 1 hunter, 1 scout, & 2 doctors as my composition, swapping out my hunter and scout for other classes whenever I needed a pinch more range or melee.

Be patient and anticipate losses with grace. I haven't played since the first few weeks of the game's release, but I intend to revisit this game soon. Easily my favorite game that came out this year.

[LeftPaw]

I didn't play anymore yesterday, the game had made me upset, and I play games for enjoyment not for frustration.
Anyway, because I had been enjoying it so much up until the random event thing I tried again, but this time the random events were absent and I was allowed to carry on. Strange, I thought these random events were seeded or whatever.

Anyway I am well along the coastline at the moment and am enjoying it tremendously again. But if those b****y impossible random event's happen again, I cannot be held responsible for my actions. :)

Or maybe I shall try out a few of your tips, my doctor has just got his second healing ability, and I shall carry more barricades.

On refection; If I had two veteran doctors, and all the barricades in the world, I very much doubt I could win the 'Hold out for 9 turns'
If my party had double movement points, I could not prevent all the thieves from escaping the camp.

[Twelvefield]

I feel your pain. I repeatedly kept getting the Ambush random attack on the way to the temple in the very first mission, which made the game impossible. The devs kindly patched that out.

Three things I found that helped:

1) Drop the difficulty. I dropped it to the bottom. I don't much care about the shame, I want to see how the story goes. Even at the bottom, the game has challenge, and you can always boost it mid-game.

2) Buy Equipment to buy Experience. Your troops deal more damage the more equipment they have, and the more they kill, the more experience you get. Every opportunity you have to buy equipment, you do that until your troops are maxed out.

3) Be Kahless, not Kirk. Geek Star Trek references. My first impusle is to be Captain Kirk: romance the ladies, be generous to the natives, fight when I have to, explore without fear. That gets you 3 Ambushes in a row before you get to the first temple on Day One. Be Kahless, the merciless Klingon warrior. Kill everything that is an obstacle, because kills are the only thing that gain you experience fast. Kill everything that is friendly, too, because they will stand around long enough for you to reap them for XP. Be loyal to your troops, and foster their morale, but not at the expense of being kind to them. Do not bring in outsiders. It's you versus the Universe. Only when you have amassed enough experience to have a Lieutenant and maybe get some heavy firepower can you think about Kirk-style diplomacy, since you can bargain from strength. With that strength you can hold out nine turns before Spock can blow the steam off his plomeek soup.