Battle Realms FAQ – Serpent Clan

Battle Realms FAQ - Serpent Clan

________________________________
Battle Realms FAQ - Serpent Clan
________________________________
By: UnSub (evilasahobby@graffiti.net)
Version: 1.15
Date: 26 July 2004

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Copyright: I hold the copyright to the material written below. You can
distribute it freely, so long as you attribute me as the source, and you do not
receive material compensation for the distribution of this guide. If you want
to do something with this guide, please ask!

Email me if you have something of value to add, not to fill up your social
calendar. And no viruses, thanks...


Contents:
 - Introduction
 - Units
 - Buildings
 - Levels
 - Thanks
 - Version History


INTRODUCTION
____________
Looking at www.gamefaqs.com for Battle Realms faq's, I noticed a disturbing
trend. Although the Dragon Clan had quite a few things written about it, there
was nothing for the Serpent Clan. What's the matter, don't you people like to
be... evil? (*queue manic laughter*)

Since I don't mind the odd bit of evildoing (it's a hobby), I thought I should
fill in this rather large gap. Don't expect the material below to be a
definitive guide - it's simply some of my observations in playing with the
Serpent Clan in the single player game. I'll also try to dispense with the
stuff you can find in the manual. You bought the game, you can read the manual.
If you didn't buy the game, send Liquid Entertainment, Crave Entertainment and
UbiSoft $8 each in compensation. You'll still come out ahead...

Version 1.11 Note:
__________________
I'm updating this faq after the launch of Battle Pack 3 which
moves Battle Realms to v1.50. I haven't played the entire game again from the
outset but did receive a question that I felt I should answer. In short the
patch seems to have toughened up the game a bit, so some of the levels are
harder to play. Read the patch list of changes (available from the official
Battle Realms site at http://battlerealms.ubi.com/) to find out what has
changed. My brief trip back into Battle Realms has reminded me that I never
finished the Dragon Clan side of things, so I think I will give that a go.
The other change to this faq is to improve the layout (the original layout
was a bit cluttered).

Version 1.15
____________
Note: Just adding in a few things sent to me and adjusting the
format to meet the new Gamefaqs auto-submit requirements. Also, I had a look
at the date I first released this guide - it was just over two years ago!
Sadly, I lent my copy of Battle Realms to a friend who has never gotten around
to giving it back, plus the expansion was very hard to find... but cleaning up
the guide brought back some pleasant memories of crushing enemy clans...

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UNITS
_____
The basic battle realms unit strategy is: mix them up. Don't stick to one unit
type or you will find that that unit's weaknesses will be overwhelmed. Multiple
unit types in an attacking squad will improve that squad's effectiveness.


BASIC UNITS
___________
Peasants:
---------
They build stuff, and die quickly versus second and third-tier enemy units.
Use them to collect resources and build structures, and send help if they get
attacked. Managing peasants is something you will learn across Battle Realms.


Swordsmen:
----------
Not a bad unit, but I didn't use them that regularly. Their battle gears
of Mugging and Glass Sword aren't that great (sure, an instant kill is nice,
but its a one-shot, and then you are left with a bunch of weak units). I
preferred using Bandits as my standard unit. Running Swordsmen have the unit
ability of being harder to hit by enemy missle fire.


Crossbowmen:
------------
Another unit I didn't really use, except in the early stages of a level. Being
able to hit enemies at a distance is a really important part of Battle Realms,
and Crossbowmen serve as a good base defense until you can get Musketeers. The
Phosphorous Bolt battle gear is very effective in establishing a base perimeter,
or as a scouting mechanism. Weakness Bolt is effective in making enemies easier
to kill, but you need other units to do the killing to maximise the
effectiveness of this battle gear.


Musketeers:
-----------
My preferred base defense. I usually set up a perimeter using Musketeers armed
with the Sniper Scope battle gear (along with Cannoneers in Watchtowers and some
melee units). Enemy units start getting hammered a long way from this perimeter
which can easily turn the tide of battle. I rarely used the Blast Shot battle
gear - it can damage your nearby troops (I think - someone tell me if I'm
wrong). Since Sniper Scope is a bit limiting in attack situations, I only used
Musketeers for defence.

**I've noticed with Battle Pack 3 that Sniper Scoped Muskeeter seemed to go
down very quickly when engaged in hand-to-hand. It may have just been me, but
this seemed to reduce their effectiveness somewhat.


Bandits:
--------
My standard infantry unit. With a reasonable melee and ranged attack, these
guys served as the bulk of my forces. The Paralysis Darts battle gear has a
good offense / defensive capability of freezing enemy units for a short time,
and I try to start any battle by having my Bandits paralyse a few units.
Stealth is very useful for scouting enemy bases and for establishing a suprise
strike to a base - my main force attacks and draws the bulk of enemy forces,
leaving my stealthy Bandits to cause some internal damage to peasants. Bandits
can also loot enemy corpses, returning a small amount of that unit's resource
value to you. Use this early on to boost your resources.


Cannoneers:
-----------
This unit has good offensive / defensive capabilities if used right, but
beware - they walk slowly. I got so sick of Cannoneers lagging behind everyone
that I would just leave them in base defense duties, usually in Watchtowers or
laying Mines. The Mine battle gear is very useful, but be sure to use at least
3 grouped Cannoneers to lay a minefield - it's quicker to do this way. The
Smoke Bomb battle gear has its uses, but mainly for offensive attacks.
Cannoneers can be very effective in destroying enemy buildings, but make sure
you don't leave them alone as they can fall quickly to melee attacks.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
**Canonneers are best used in taking out buildings - Battle Pack 3 has
increased the hit point value of structures while reducing the effectiveness
of fire. Use a couple in raiding party to help you destroy buildings but you
will have to watch out for them destroying a building at maximum range and
then just standing around doing nothing.


Raiders:
--------
My favourite offensive unit. Raiders are the quickest unit in the game, and
should be used as scouts and for guerrilla attacks. I would group 3-4 Raiders
separately from my main attack squad and have them set fire to a couple of
buildings to draw the enemy forces, run back to my main group and wipe out
the base defense. Raiders shouldn't focus on just one target - have them set
fire to a couple of buildings to maximise their damage. This strategy is better
detailed at the official site (www.battlerealms.ubisoft.com). The Caltrops
battle gear is great for damaging units that try to chase the Raiders, while
Brushfire can be used to clear out forests or wipe out rice fields. Play around
and find out what you like.

**Should have mentioned here that the Raider's Caltrops are great for
reinforcing a minefield, or for creating another damaging barrier once you have
maxed out your mines. Note that Battle Pack 3 has reduced the effectiveness of
fire attacks.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Ronin:
------
Ronin suck in small numbers. Remember this. Since they run straight into
battle, you need a number of them to back each other up. One Ronin surrounded
by enemies falls quickly; four Ronin surrounded by enemies have a chance of
surviving. Blood Bond will improve the chance of a Ronin surviving, whereas
Yang Blade increase the amount of yang returned from a fight. I suggest using
Yang Blade early on to maximse your ability to upgrade units, with Blood Bond
being an effective later game battle gear to keep Ronin alive during raids. A
dying Ronin will stick his swords into the ground, giving nearby units a bonus
to their attacks.

By the way, the more Yang you have, the better your troops fight...


Fan Geisha:
-----------
Vital to any battle squad are Fan Geisha. Having your units healed when
fighting is often the difference between winning and losing a fight. Fan
Geishas often make up a quarter of my attacking squad. Their battle gears
don't do much for me, so experiment and make up your own mind. You can
improve the speed and health of Fan Geishas by putting them on horseback.


Ninjas:
-------
Not as good at fighting as Monks, but able to hold being stealthy for longer
than Bandits can. You get the option of getting them at about the third map
from the end.

 - Low Little Flyer wrote to add:

"Ninja will fight better than Monks if they have more Yang points."


Monks:
------
Since it is usually late in the game / level when you get them (depending on
the level you choose - Monks or Ninjas) I only Monks to replace regular melee
units in my defensive perimeter. They aren't bad fighters, but do seem to die
rather quickly.

- Low Little Flyer wrote to add:

"monks fights greater when Yin points increase, and because the serpent clan
can only get Yang points , the monks are very weak"

Horses:
-------
Okay, so you can't build horses, but you can collect them to improve the
strength of your troops. Units that ride horses have more hitpoints and can
move faster (usually) than normal. Peasants that are given horses collect a
lot more resources than those without them.

As the only finite resource in BR, horses should be collected wherever
possible, even if you don't use them. Why? Because if you don't collect the
horses, your enemies will, which means you'll have to fight them. Better to
have them on your side than fight tougher opponents, agreed?


HEROES
______

Kenji:
------
A great fighting unit. Always remember to use his Critical Strike battle gear.
Only Serpent Zen Master with a ranged attack (which comes later in the game).
The Critical Strike battle gear works with his ranged attack as well.


Otomo:
------
A great fighting unit. Always remember to use his Battle Cry battle gear to
assist nearby allied units. Goes all moral on you later in the game.


Shinja:
-------
A great fighting unit. Always remember to use his Intimidation battle gear
to assist nearby allied units.


Buda:
-----
Found in the first level after the Swan's Pool at the bottom left of the
map. You need a Fan Geisha to get him. Not a bad fighting unit, but I usually
leave him in my defensive perimeter Blood Bonded to a Ronin.


Koril:
------
Found by choosing to wipe out the Lotus Clan (right after Serpentholm). A good
hand to hand fighter whose teleportation battle gear can be useful for hit and
run strikes or for getting him out of trouble.


Utara:
------
Found by taking the right route after Serpentholm - you have to destroy the
Keep in the middle of the map to get her. A very good fighter whose Song of
Sorrow can really sap a group of enemy units' health. Very useful. Don't leave
her alone as she can collapse very quickly.


Vetkin:
-------
Found by going the centre route to the Swan's Pool. Great fighter who is very
fast. Lousy against buildings. When he runs he doesn't use any stamina. Can
easily outdistance the rest of the attack squad, so he tends to get himself
into a bit of trouble now and again when he tries to take on a base by himself.


Tao
---
Low Little Flyer wrote to me to tell me that you can get Tao on the
Serpent Path:

"It's possible to get Tao in serpent path:

1. chose the monk's path
2. you'll meet Tao and 4 other monks with him beetween the way to the
 monastery. (south-east)
3. be careful not to kill Tao or attack him (press the hotkey "o" ).
4. kill the 4 monks and left him alone. He will join you after the 4 monks
are killed

Normally Tao can give 2 more monks, but maybe some problem exists in the game,
monks are limited to 4."

 - As Low Little Flyer also mentions above, the Monks you will get are
weaker than the Ninjas, but "it's a two edged sword - if you chose the
ninja path, you will not get an additional hero. "

From my time playing with the Dragon Clan, Tao seemed like quite a solid
fighter, but nothing special.


Necromancer:
------------
Worth his weight in gold. Use him to summon three Spirit Warriors to either
boost your attacking squad or to add numbers to your base defence. He's great
in hand to hand fighting, although you may need to tell him to attack a target
- he apparently thinks fighting is beneath him. His zombie summoning ability
is great, but uses up his stamina, so it doesn't last forever. Simply have him
in the same area as a corpse and hey presto, a zombie appears. The Necromancer
seems to think fighting is above him, so you will have to command him to
attack a target most of the time.


Zombies:
--------
Zombies themselves are very useful in a close fight, but are slow like summer
is hot. They can't run, so sending them a long distance probably means they
will be dead before they get anywhere. Fan Geishas can be very useful in
healing the continually weakening zombie, but be warned - they may use up all
their stamina on zombies and have nothing left for your other troops. Fan
Geishas will also follow zombies (to heal them), which can be a bad thing if
you send zombies away as desposable scouts.


Spirit Warriors:
----------------
Summoned by the Necromancer. Cause great damage to enemy units, but can't take
much punishment. Good thing they are cheap and replaceable. Once you have the
Necromancer you should have three Spirit Warriors at all times.


BUILDINGS
_________
It's up to you to learn what to build depending on your style of play. I found
that only one type of each building (other than peasant huts) was sufficient;
you may find something different. A couple of pointers for buildings:

If the map has horses, build stables as quickly as possible and try to capture
as many horses as possible. Horses are the only finite resource in Battle
Realms, and it's better to take control of that resource before your opponent.
It may turn out that you can't capture any horses because the enemy keeps
killing your peasant, but you should at least try. Send guards if you have to.

Bathhouses train Fan Geishas who save lives. Factor this into your building
plans.

Choose a base location that is easily defendable. Minimise the directions
foes can attack you from and you will find life easier. Try to balance the
protection of a base with resource collection requirements.

You will work out your favourite units and the order in which you prefer to
upgrade them. I always started by upgrading the Bathhouse's Art of Love to
make Fan Geishas more efficient. After that I would go for Poisoned Weapons
at the Sharpshooter's Guild (although the manual says that the Alchemist's
Hut provides this upgrade - a misprint, I think).


LEVELS
______
I'm playing through as I do this, and the order in which you do things does
influence what you have access to in the early stages of the game. I've listed
the order in which I did the levels.

There are 1 x 2 (2) x 3 (1) x 1 x 1 x 3 (1) x 1 x 1 x 2 (1) x 1 x 1 = 12 levels
and 17 different maps (**I think!).


Start:
------
Kill the peasants, protect the guys in red.

---Choice: Shinja's Keep or Otomo's Province.---
This is up to you. It's couple of learning stages, so take care and get a feel
for the game. Otomo's Province is easier to complete (I found anyway). You have
to play through both of them anyway, but the order is up to you.


Shinja's Keep:
--------------
There's plenty of rice and water on the map. Take plenty of men to attack
Shinja's Keep (at the top of the map). There is a town in the middle of the map
along the path which you can attack if you want the practice. For the record -
I took 20 Swordsmen to attack Shinja's Keep (upgraded with Drunken Revelry) and
only 2 (and Kenji) survived the intial assault against the horse riding Dragon
Warriors. Be warned!

Shinja rides off, and you meet with Otomo.


Otomo's Province:
-----------------
There's a rice paddock on the level below where you start. Build a Tavern and
Sharpshooter's Guild. You can also build a Watchtower to aid with base defense.
Send a unit through both training buildings to get a Bandit. I prefer Bandits
over Swordsmen, so I made a lot of these. When you are happy with the size of
your attacking squad, assign them a group key and get exploring. Shinja's base
in located in the set of hills to the east. Send your guys in through the top
entrance to see Shinja on top of the Watchtower. Kill any guards, chop down
the Watchtower and attack Shinja until he runs away.

---Choice: Left, Centre or Right Route to the Swan's Pool---
Depending on the route you choose, you may get a Zen Master. If you want
Vetkin, take the centre route.


Left Route:
-----------
Very tough to start out - your base starts a good distance from rice and
water, and there is a Wolf Watertower just in front of your base. I found
that the starting attack units were not enough to take the Watchtower, so I
left it for a little while. Send two guys to collect horses from the nearby
herd and send a guy or two to build their Huts next to the closest rice and
water location. With this started, your Peasants should collect a packhorse
before going down to harvest resources. This speeds things up quite a bit.
With about 4 packhorses being used in resource collecting, abandon the top
base and start to build up a base near the resource collection huts.

Build your Tavern, Sharpshooter's Guild and another Stables. At some point
early on, the Wolf will attack you with two squads. They will spend a bit of
time destroying your (abandoned) top base, then try to wipe out your new base.
Hopefully you will have built up a couple of Bandits to fight off this attack.

As an observation, it appears that when a stable gets destroyed, all the
horses within it also get destroyed. Fyi.

Your first target should be the Watchtower, but beware - this seems to serve
as a staging point for Wolf units. It's a hard fight, and I lost Shinja doing
it. Remember that every horse the Wolf clan gets becomes two wolves that serve
to distract your attacks.

After this, build up your forces and wipe the Wolf from the map. Their main
base is up the centre road - I circled around it and attacked it from the top
of the map, working my way down.

Cutscene of Kenji reminiscing. What happened to your brother, Kenji? (Note: An
expansion prequal called Winter of the Wolf has just ("just" being a relative
term) been announced, with Kenji's brother being a new Zen Master for the
Serpent Clan.)


Centre Route:
-------------
Move your guys down to the bottom left part of the map to meet Vetkin. Build
up your base and attack squad as you see fit, but I recommend sending a
Peasant to capture the horses to the right of the nearby rice paddock. Use the
horses to speed up rice collection. Give the other horses to your attack
squad. When you are ready send the squad further up the path and kill the Wolf
units in the middle of the town.

After this point, Kenji gets all contrary and decides to slaughter the town and
Garrick. Hopefully your squad is big enough to take out the town. I find that
the enemy seems to concentrate their fire on horse riding targets or your Zen
Masters, so use that information as you will. Destroy the first town, then
move around the hill until you find another settlement. Alternatively, follow
the stream of Peasants back to their source. Clear out this area. Take out
Garrick's fortress. The level ended after I did that, but I don't know if
that was because everyone was dead or the destruction of the fortress was
the trigger.

Cutscene of Kenji reminiscing (except he's burning Lotus buildings - bug?).


Right Route:
------------
Not too hard, but it looks like the Lotus had their aggressiveness rating
turned down. Start by repairing the buildings you have and send someone off
to gather the horses. Your three hero units should be sent right to the pool
of water - there is a Lotus Peasant Hut that needs taking out. A couple of
Lotus units will come to the defense of this hut - nothing to worry about.
Build a Peasant Hut near the water. Use packhorses to collect resources
quickly. Build your training buildings as you like and start building up an
attacking force.

I'll point out here for those who don't know - when you select a building
(left click) you can right click on the ground to set a waypoint for the units
to gather at. When you have a building selected and you right click on another
building, units will automatically walk out of one building and into the other.
This is great for setting up assembly lines of attacking units by going from
Peasant Hut to Tavern to Sharpshooter's Guild to rally at the Watchtower.

Anyway, follow the road up through the middle of the map. You'll run into two
bases before reaching the final base in the top-right corner. Reinforce
yourself as necessary. Wipe them out.

No cutscene - bug?


Swan's Pool:
------------
Train the guys you have at the Thieves' Guild and move up to the Swan's Pool
building in the centre of the map. Form a perimeter around the building. Lotus
units are weak against piercing attacks, so your Crossbowmen can be very
useful. Try to keep everyone alive. Koril (looks spikey and has a scimitar) is
the last unit that will attack you.

Cutscene.

I'll be running with the Central Route from this point. Email me if I've
missed anything important.


After Swan's Pool:
------------------
A fight against the Wolf Clan. You can get Buda on this map, but you need a
Fan Geisha. More on this later.

Build your base in front of the small triangle made up by the road. If you want
to get Buda, group Kenji and a Fan Geisha and send them down to the bottom left
side of the map. You will walk by a Wolf Watchtower, so be careful. When you
come across some blue Peasant Huts, walk around until you find Buda. Move
Kenji close to Buda and then move the Fan Geisha to Buda. Hey presto, he
should be yours. Take care on the walk back.

Build a Stable and catch some horses to speed up resource collection. Send
your units through the Metal Shop to give them a battle gear. From now on,
I'll pretend you know how to build a base and only mention new buildings.

The Wolf Clan have build two other Watchtowers on the main road on the south
side of the river. Take them out, then start working your way north. Remember
- Fan Geisha save lives. Use them.

The Wolf's main base is in the centre of the map, with side bases existing
next to the rice on the left side and in the hills on the right side of the
map. Beware getting hit by boulders pushed from on top of the hill - they can
decimate a side quickly (but they rarely seem to get used).


Serpentholm (aka Kenji's Got a Gun):
------------------------------------
This is a hard stage, so move quickly down to the rice fields next to the
river and start building. The Wolf Clan will attack you from the east (coming
across the rock path through the river - you can see the rocks under the river
near the rice field?) while the Lotus Clan will attack from the north. Control
the river crossing and the Wolf are no problem. Fortify yourself north and the
Lotus are no problem.

You get attacked on a regular basis in this map, so focus on building your base
up. There's a Lotus Base north of where you are, a Lotus Base in the top right
section of the map and the Wolf control the bottom left. Don't believe the
"Wolf and Lotus are enemies" line - they seem to ignore each other to attack
you.

Something else that adds to the difficulty level of this map is that you now
have all three training buildings (you can build the Alchemist's Hut).
It takes a little while to get comfortable balancing out the uses of all
three buildings, so treat any losses as a learning experience.

Use the Metal Shop to equip your Cannoneers with Mines and Raiders with
Caltrops. The path across the river that the Wolf take is narrow, with a
layer of mines being able to wipe out an attacking force. Caltrops across
the front of the base slows any attacks by the Lotus Clan. Don't leave your
base undefended - some Watchtowers, Musketeers and Cannoneers should be enough.

Anyway, wipe out all enemy units. Peasants have a nasty habit of running away
when you decimate a base and then rebuilding their base somewhere else.
Don't let this happen as it gets very frustrating to find the last Peasant Hut
on a map.

Cutscene of the Dark stealing the Orb and disappearing. Kenji gets angry for
a change.

---Choice: Flank the Wolf (left), Frontal Wolf Assault (Centre), Wipe out the
Lotus (Right)---

You can get a Zen Master from either the left or right path. I like Utara, so
I recommend Flanking the Wolf (left). The cutscene you get at the end of each
map is broadly similar, with a bit of extra dialogue depending on what map you
chose.


Flank the Wolf:
---------------
Head right when the map starts since that is the only place where rice and
water are close together. There are a few Wolf units to attack you, so take
them out quickly (they seem to go after the Peasants - don't let them get
killed). Build your base quickly as the Wolf give you little time to set-up.
I built a Watchtower just above-right of the pool of water which seemed to
give me a bit of breathing room to build the rest of the structures. The
occasional attack came from the south (aimed at the rice fields) but the
majority of attacks come from the north. Clear the trees as soon as possible
around the base to increase your line of sight (Raiders with Brushfire are
ideal for this) and lay a minefield / caltrop line infront of the areas that
need defending.

When you are ready, send your forces out to clear out the level. You want to
destroy the Cairns and the Keep. Once you destroy the Keep, Utara pops out and
pledges allegience. She's damn good to have and the Song of Sorrow is great
versus groups. Now all you have to do is find the Peasants who have run
away and hidden. Grrrr....

Cutscene of the Wolf Clan forming a questionable alliance. Apparently the
Lotus Clan have been wiped out, too.


Frontal Wolf Assault:
---------------------
You have two options - a restricted base on the plateau to the east of your
starting position, or the the wider but less defendable area to the north west
(bordered by the river). Your choice, but save regularly.

You are aiming to take out the three Mines and the Cairn on the map. The Mines
are located on the long mountain ridge in the east section of the map. The
Shale Lord guards the top mine and be careful - send guys one on one with him
and he'll eat them up. Beat on him from all sides and he'll go down quickly
(but you'll still lose a couple of guys). I've forgotten where the Cairn was
- I think it was above the middle mine on the terrain platform, but I'm not
sure. Just work your way through the enemies base until you find it. Once
these buildings are destroyed, the level ends.

Cutscene - Lotus gone, decision made


Wipe out the Lotus:
-------------------
Take your units up to the top left of the map. Sure, there is a Lotus base
there, but you want that space. Kill them with your attacking units while
building some Peasant Huts near the water and rice. Build up your base and
defense. Again, you want to build up a minefield / caltrop ring with Sniper
Scope Musketeers and Cannoneers in Watchtowers as defense (or I did, anyway).
Build up an attack squad to clear the level. There is a Lotus Brother in each
camp, but when you attack the north camp (top of the hill) Koril will join you
(after you beat him up a bit). So take out the north base, then the east one,
then the base in the southwest.

Each base has a brother, but you can draw them out by sending a Bandit with
Stealth into their trigger range. Hunt down the remaining Peasants once the
bases are gone.

Cutscene of the Wolf Clan announcing the Lotus Clan have been destroyed
followed by some offer and acceptance.

I'm running the game from the left route from this point. Email me if I've
missed anything important.


Necromancer:
------------
Enemies come in a constant stream in this level, so don't worry about them
(well, kill them if they bother you, but...). The zombies and spirit warriors
seem to focus their attacks on the melee units (Shinja in particular) so
assign the two Fan Geisha to guard him.

You want to move to the south-east corner of the map, where a path leads up
into the hills.  Look for bodies of Peasants and two stone heads to find the
start of the path. At about this point an endless stream of Spirit Warriors
will attack you. Fight through them as you move up the path. Your aim is to
make it to the area in the hills where the dead trees are (north at first
intersection, north at second intersection). Once any unit enters this area,
the map is finished. I fought the spirit warriors to the first intersection,
then sent my Musketeers running up the rest of the way.

Cutscene of Shinja meeting an evil librarian-looking chap who calls himself
the Necromancer.


Otomo's Rebels:
---------------
Shinja and the Necromancer are the key units on this map, so set the Fan
Geishas to guard them. Summon Spirit Warriors as much as you can.

This is a bit of a hard level since they don't give you enough troops to play
with - you have to manufacture your own using the Necromancer. Make sure he
zombifies as many corpses as he can and has three Spirit Warriors on the go.

There is a base at the end of the east road, a squad of enemy units (including
a Samurai) on near the west hill near the crossroads and a base to the north.
A Watchtower sits about midway along the road - if you get sandwiched between
the Watchtower and the hill squad you will be wiped out very quickly. Try to
keep as many units alive as possible for the north base.

The north base isn't too hard, just take out the Watchtower first and keep
raising Zomibies to attack buildings. Peasant Huts can be great sources of
zombies. The base is arranged with most of the buildings at the right side of
the road near where the rice fields begin. There are one or two buildings you
will have to search for though - check the north end of the road for a Dojo.


Kill Otomo (aka Serpentholm 2: Return of the Serpentholm):
----------------------------------------------------------
Your starting position sucks. Dump it. Why? Just try heading north...

Leave two peasants collecting water and send the rest of your units down
to the large rice field at the south end of the map. Otomo's peasants are
collecting rice - there should be a Peasant Hut or two and a Watchtower.
Destroy them, build your own huts and start collecting rice and base building
with the aim of building a Well. Once you have a Well, retract your guys
collecting water from the original base. Otomo usually attacks from the west
while the Wolf usually attack from the north. I built my Watchtowers lining
the road just west of the rice field and that seemed to serve my needs.

A little while into the mission some of Otomo's troops will attack you and the
point of view (POV) will be torn from you as Shinja enters the map. Send
Shinja's
group down to your base. Repel the attack and build your base up. You will be
on the receiving end of Wolf and Otomo's attack squads for a while, so build
up your forces.

Otomo's base is to the east (on the other side of the river) while the Wolf
Clan's base is north of where you started. My defense strategy consisted of
burning down enough forest to get a good range of sight and to mine / caltrop
the area east of my base since 90% of attacks came through here). After that,
build up your forces and go east. Otomo's base lies on the other side of a
river crossing - try to draw the enemy across this narrow strip and away from
their Watchtowers. But how you level the base is up to you...

After that, follow the path north - you should hit a Wolf encampment on the
same side of the river as Otomo's base. The main Wolf camp is north of your
original base, across the river. Wipe them off the map to finish the level.

Cutscene of Kenji and Shinja.

**This was the level I was questioned on. Having replayed it I can see how
Battle Pack 3 has changed it. First off send your three starting offensive
units south along with 4 peasants once they have spawned. Go to the large
southern rice field and take out the Peasant Hut using all your units (let
the offensive units kill enemy peasants if it makes things easier). Once it
is destroyed build your own peasant hut in its place. Have your offensive
units wipe out the Watchtower while your peasants now start to collect rice
and build structures. Turn off the peasant creation ability at your now
isolated hut and send down any idle peasants. Aim to build a Stables then a
Well once your three basic training buildings are finished.

Plenty of enemy peasants should still be coming down and trying to collect rice
from your field. Kill them and start to build up a base. The original strategy
(above) should work here except I recommend attacking the Wolf base north of
you instead of Otomo's base. Wiping out the north Wolf will allow you to
control the river crossing points at the top of the map, where you should
cross your troops before sending them south and wiping out any remaining Wolf.
The Wolf build a base in the north-west section of the map and it's best to
eliminate them before worrying about Otomo. I used a basic "attack from two
sides at once" method to level Otomo's base. I generally left my Zen Masters
in my main base to aid in it's protection, although Koril and Utara were very
effective in raiding parties.

---Choice: Ninjaville or Monktown---
You get to choose which special unit you want to take, either Monks or Ninjas.
Monks are fighters. Ninjas are sneaky. Take your pick. See the Units section
above as to the difference between the units and how to get Tao as a hero.


Monktown:
---------
You have to destroy the keep with a limited number of soldiers. It is very
easy. Go slowly to the island at the bottom right of the map and kill Tao
(see the Units section above about how you can recruit him to the Serpent
Clan!). From this island go north to the top right of the map and you will
find the keep. It has quite a few monks guarding it, but once you take them
out, it is fairly easy to level the keep. Ensure that your troops don't get
separated and you should have an easy time of it.

Cutscene of Kenji making some new friends.


Ninjaville:
-----------
Start by setting up your base near the rice and water close to your starting
position. Send your fighting units over to guard the Soul Flame while your
peasants build up a base. Once you have been able to churn out some Swordsmen
send them over to the Soul Flame. Watch out though - I found my Crossbowmen
would hit the "friendly" Ninja, who would then turn on the rest of the units
I controlled. Alternatively attack the Ninja off the bat and destroy the Soul
Flame to bind the Ninja to your will. Good thing that Ninja told us that
would happen! (Oh, the Soul Flame is in a clearing on the west side of the
map - listen for the crackle of flame.) When you do take the Soul Flame, all
Ninjas on the map will come under your control. The bad thing is they take
up unit spaces in your overall count, so you may not end up with that much
room to build other units.

Build up your base, clear trees, etc. The Wolf Clan has a base to the north.
Send a ninja or two to scout. Wipe them off the map to complete the level.

Cutscene of the Ninjas joining your side and Kenji ordering something
unsporting.


Final Province:
---------------
Look, you have the idea. Build a base near rice and water. There is a Wolf
Watchtower to your right in front of the mountain. Set up your defenses well
-  I usually had the Wolf attacking from the west. That said, attacks can
come from any place where the Wolf can cross the river. You will get
continually attacked across the course of this map. Try and grab as many
horses as possible early on - there is a herd to your north.  Apart from
that, it's really the same old story (it can be a bit hard at times, but
it's far from impossible).


End Game:
---------
What you want to do is take the base position at the bottom right of the map.
This base has only one entrance, so defensively it is fantastic. The space is
a little cramped, but with a bit of care I managed to build one of every
structure in this area (with my towers just on the other side of the river
crossing). It may take a bit of time, but you can easily build up a force to
wipe the Wolf from the map. I'll leave you to figure out your own base design.
For the record, my Keep was very, very close to the front lines. You don't
have a lot of room, so put things as close as they can go. You will
definitely need to water your rice to keep production up.

The Wolf have a camp in the bottom left corner of the map, on a hill in
towards the top left. You want to take this hill, because clearing it out
will activate a cutscene. After the cutscene, you can sit back in your base
waiting for the final attack or just send your attack squad to level the Wolf
camps. Kill a certain someone and you've finished the game!

End sequence of Kenji, Shinja and the Necromancer undergoing a little male
bonding...

The End!

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THANKS
______
To my girlfriend for her unerring support (ie "Haven't you finished that game
yet?" and "This game goes on forever!" and "What's an FAQ?" :-)

To Low Little Flyer for his info about Tao, Monks and Ninjas.


VERSION HISTORY
_______________
Version 1.15 - Added in info from Low Little Flyer.
Version 1.11 - made a correction; thanks to Ben Tan for pointing out the error.
Version 1.1 - answered a question I was sent; updated the layout.

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Version 1.0 finished 16/7/02
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