How do you play this game?

[sege64]

Can anyone give a total newbie some basic info on how to play this game? specifically the hex battles. I haven't played this or HOMM type games before.
I've just started the game and have no idea what I'm doing. I've done the tutorial part which just gave me some paladins who just destroyed anything they touched. That didn't teach me anything about how to win battles. I've checked the game manual and it didn't have anything about battle tactics. I've hunted around the web but everything seems to be talking about more advanced and specific things like which units to take into which fights etc.

I've tried letting the battles auto complete and watched the AI trying to figure out what it's doing and why but It almost seems random. e.g Ranged units move forward and back and then fire...why? Are there range limits for ranged units?

Things I'm wondering about are:
Is the any bonus to positioning more than one unit against an enemy? surrounding or flanking them etc?
Units seem to attack when they are hit in melee, so is there any benefit in attacking another unit or should you just defend all the time (which gives you a defence bonus but then you still get to attack?)
Is it better to have a small stack of more powerful units or a larger stack of weaker ones?
The basic idea is to win battles with the minimum of losses correct?
Does line of sight affect ranged units? range? what does the broken arrow mean when targeting enemy's with ranged units?

Is there a good place/resource anywhere to find this kind of stuff out?

Can anyone help me out? I'm majorly confused!

[bml9384]

I think I can help you out a bit, but keep in mind I am no expert.

1. To my knowledge, there is no attack bonus for more than 1 unit against an enemy, but if 1 unit attacks an enemy unit, it uses up the counter-attack so the next unit to attack it in the round won't be attacked.

2. When a unit is attacked in melee combat, the attacked unit gets one counter per round. If you attack first, you can (depending on the unit's defense, health, and any buffs or debuffs on the enemy unit and on your own) either kill a number of units in the stack so they do less damage on there turn, or damage a unit so another unit own your side can finish it off. I find it is usually best to use wait with your melee units to see how the enemy moves, then attack.

3. It is usually personal preference. I tend to use a mix of powerful and weak units, as well as units that are in the midrange as well.

4. Yes, that is the basic idea. As soon as you get resurrection (depending on how lucky you are, you can get it near the beginning or near the end. I think the Paladin starts with a scroll, so save it until you can scribe it into the spellbook.) you can use it to help mitagate losses. Same with hypnotise and sacrifice.

5. I don't think line of sight affects anything but damage. The broken arrow means that the target is out of the shooter's range. Most ranged units do less damage if the target is more than half the map away, though using the dragon arrows spell negates that. Firing through obstacles also reduces damage.

I hope that helps. While there may be a good place or resource to learn this, I'm afraid I don't know of one. I know most of this from playing ALOT of HOM&M in junior high and high school and the King's Bounty games uses a similar system, so it helped when I started playing.

[sege64]

Thank you bml9384, that is very useful info.

I didn't realise units gets only one counter attack per round, I can see straight away how you might use that to your advantage with tank type units and perhaps more fragile damage dealers.

I am going to try to find an even battle and just save beforehand and play it out many times trying different things to see how it plays out.

Thanks for your help.

[Tooluka]

Try playing warrior or paladin first time and lean more on units, not on magic.
Try to gain as much leadership as you can.
Don't waste money, zero money = gameover.
Don't buy early items, maybe 1 or 2 if they are really good and doesn't cost more than 30% of your gold.
Don't switch unit types often, it is very costly.
Don't stay too long with all human army, other units are good too.

On different islands there enemies from weak to impossible - don't clear one island completely after another, try to go to different areas and find suitable enemies.

Personally I play conservatively on normal and most of the time I use 2 ranged units and 3 melee. In fight I wait until the enemy comes to me and then go all out.
Around level 8-10 I switch to level 3-4 units - they have more abilities. Different summoner units are very good - you get additional 0.5 stack unit for nothing. Inquisitors are great too - they allow to use dragon way more often by supplying rage.