In Part One I introduced the basics of tactics & strategy (plus the distinction), and gave some examples of applying those basic ideas.

Part Two is about some of the subtleties of warfare: misdirection, unit choice, and of course, recovering from a bad outcome. Let's start at the top.

Tricky Play & Just Being Obnoxious

Giving your opponent a run for their money isn't always the result of a fair match. Behind every physical war there's a psychological one going on, and a perceived threat can be far easier to create, not to mention more effective, than a real unit-based threat.

Just to show how well this can work, here's a screenshot (annotated) from one of my own games:

I ended up losing this game (I'm still working on my 2v2+ skills) but managed to make a surge at this stage. The main battle taking place at the village & ruined castle was killing me, so I decided to shift the field a bit. The Wolf Rider moved up and captured a village, both near the red leader and behind red's main line. As a result, he pulled back all but one of the units defending that main battlefield. That's the white area.

He could not, however, disengage from the black portion of the map; my unit was just far too easy to kill, and he wanted the XP more than he was really worried about that one Rider. Although I did not capitalize on it at the time, had I followed the green arrows, I would have perfectly divided his army and forced a retreat (or at least a badly-planned counterattack).

A good way to think of army-level movement is like water. Both your units and your opponent's units "flow" through the terrain, obstructed by the enemy and facilitated by openings in a defensive line. The arrows in the screenshot above illustrate just such an opening, which gives green a chance to push through and gain ground while red is recovering from its hasty response.

So, what can you take away from that example? Surprise the enemy, because they won't react well. Although you do have as much time as you want, theoretically, most players want to hurry it up a bit, and will panic when you catch them off-guard. Now, the attack doesn't have to be anything serious, just enough to make them think that it is. A few scouting units rushing up the side of the map will elicit a heavy response, since you could easily cripple their income and make a beeline for their leader.

And if it doesn't work out? What if your distraction fails to, well, distract? You could always just be a pain in the ass. Go ahead and nab a few villages; your opponent will have to take them back at some point, even if it's just one unit following yours.

Recruiting: Who Do You Buy?

Now it's time to dive back down to the tactical level again as we explore unit choice, and what to pick against what. This isn't going to be a "buy Drake Burners against Woses" kind of section (there's the How To Play... series on the Wesnoth wiki for that). I'm going to try and convey the basic method for choosing units.

There are a few factors to consider when you're playing. This should probably take place around the once-over of the map, so you can identify the terrain most advantageous for your units. Here's a basic list:

• What resistances do your units have?
• What weapons would be ineffective against the enemy? (Their resistances)
• Which units/weapons should your units watch out for? (Your negative resistances)
• Which unit/weapon will be most effective against the enemy?
• What terrain is most on the map, and which unit can take advantage of it?

Some might seem obvious (don't buy mermen on a land map), but others will probably require opening up the unit profile. Many Dwarves, for example, have generally high resistances and deal in impact weapons; Undead, which are vulnerable to those weapons, should probably try to hit them with magic & poison instead of battling it out with swords.

Your recruitment will change throughout the battle. Early on you'll most likely want a few scouts and then some supporting attackers. Mid-game comes the wave of fighters and archers, with some medical support if you have them. In the end game, depending on if you're winning or losing, you will either lean towards more scouts or the higher-HP units.

Supporting Your Troops

Simply buying fighter after fighter will not win a battle, in most cases. While the Undead are a notable exception, since they rely on swarm tactics, support units are present in almost every faction. Even one or two healers will go a long way towards turning the tide of battle.

Most healing units have some combat capabilities, which means that they won't be entirely lost on the field of battle. Moving them into the center of a fight isn't suggested, of course, but staying near the damaged units & fighting doesn't equate to a death sentence.

Recovering and Rethinking

Now, what do you do when things aren't going your way? This is a tricky topic, since clearly your first plan didn't work. Keeping a fallback option open is tough as well, since an opponent that totally dominates will easily cut this off.

It's important to consider this at every step of the game: "What happens if I started losing right now?" Where would your units move back to? Just because you are pushing forward on turn 6 doesn't mean you won't be moving backwards on 7. This is especially true for factions that are affected by time of day. Pushing forward when you are strong is all well and good, but when you're taking 25% penalties, things may shift away from you.

That's why you want to look a bit behind your army. Find areas that are suitable for mounting a defense from. Hills, forests, whatever is good for your faction. This fallback zone stays in flux with your army's position, of course; if you move forward, don't retreat all the way back to your castle. Instead, find a new zone that's convenient to your army.

Now, these places shouldn't be obnoxiously far away. You should need to move one or two turns at the most, to best organize your units.

Conclusion

That's it for Part Two. The third installment will take a bit longer, as it will be entirely devoted to games involving more than two players, covering both team and free-for-all play.