Part 16

Tower Defense: Maintain at least five towers guarding your main door and four along key routes like the dragon/griffin path, provided you have sufficient gold.

Peasant Slaughter: When a gold mine is depleted, the AI will send its peasants to the next nearest mine, even if undefended. This can be exploited to create free skeleton troops, especially in the Orc campaign with Death Knights. Use these skeletons primarily for defense.

Anti-Retaliation Spells: Use 'Blizzard' or 'Death and Decay' as anti-retaliation weapons. Position your main troops outside the enemy town, send a single unit in to provoke a response, then retreat. Cast the spell on the retreat path to eliminate pursuing enemies. For instance, on the final Human level, casting 'Blizzard' on the approach route can significantly reduce the number of enemies reaching your forces.

Tower Repair Exploitation: Target the first tower in an enemy town with 'Blizzard' or 'Death and Decay'. The AI will send peasants or peons to repair it. Follow up with more spell bursts to destroy both the tower and the repairing units. This can yield eight or more peasant/peon kills if timed correctly.

Anti-Dragon Tactic: 'Polymorph' is highly effective against dragons, but it has a high mana cost. Ensure you have 2-3 mages available to cast it on multiple dragons.

Transport Management: After locating your starting base area, destroy any starting transports. This prevents the enemy from gaining kill points against them and reduces your food requirement, as you can rebuild them later if needed.

Peasant Martyr Trick: Use peasants as decoys against mages or Death Knights. Send them into the enemy's area, as the AI is likely to use 'Polymorph' or 'Death Coil' on them. Then, attack with your main troops before the enemy spellcasters can recharge.

Save Frequently: Save your game often, and maintain multiple save files. This is crucial as situations can deteriorate quickly without immediate notice. Keep end-of-level saves, especially for levels like Human 8, where the starting conditions may not be obvious.

Reconnaissance: Use spotter units at the start of a level to locate enemies and assess their strengths before reloading and planning your attack. This mirrors real-world military reconnaissance.

Skeleton Usage (Orc): Skeletons are primarily useful for preventing humans from using 'Exorcism' on your Death Knights. Upgrade this ability only when nearing the final assault or if facing human opponents. The final Orc level provides this ability for free. Skeletons can also be acquired through 'Peasant Slaughter' or by using near-dead units to save on food and reduce the enemy's kill score.