Alfhelm the Wise - An Exercise in Futility?

[Tigertown84]

Trying to get through Imperial Era's "Alfhelm the Wise" on normal difficulty. No matter how many times I play this campaign there is one riddle I just can't solve....the map called "Lavinium Falls/The Betrayal".

I believe the developer gave the opposition so much fire power that it is impossible to even survive past twenty turns, let alone defeat the Laviniums. Especially after we are forced to banish our two most experienced units that we have(Harn and Ranhilde) for their 'betrayal'. Well if I'm Alfhelm, I'm not too proud to forgive and forget this so called 'betrayal', because quite frankly without the much needed help of Harn and Ranhilde I'm toast! But we're not even given a choice whether to banish them or not. They're just taken away.

OK, so then after the two most powerful allies are sent away like dogs with their tails between their legs by Alfhelm the Moron, then armed with less than 200 g.p., I am supposed to defeat not one, but TWO armies of Lavinium led by Sextus Raetius and Quirinius Maximus. Oh, and despite some very minor fires in the city to take care of(which take the AI about 3 turns to put out), the Laviniums have ridiculous advantages in firepower, range, and sheer numbers. And this is only on MEDIUM difficulty. I shudder to imagine what the higher level is like...

Give me a break. It's rather disheartening to play this far into a scenario only to be confronted by exponential odds. There is challenging, and then there is absurd. I am not a novice TBfW player, so I don't make these complaints without some experience behind them. I have finished ALL of the base(non expansion) scenarios on medium difficulty and some of them on difficult.

Alfhelm the Wise is a fun challenge until the "Lavinium Falls/The Betrayal" portion of it. Then it just becomes a joyless exercise in futility. If anyone has any hints on how to possibly make the overwhelming odds against Alfhelm at this point of the game a little more reasonable please let me know. I am going into this map with several level 3 units, but their combined might doesn't stand a chance against hordes of high powered Claimants(which are opponents that have no equal), Propugnators, Signifiers and Slingers.

I'd love to hear from anyone else that has played this campaign, and more specifically if possible, from the Developer to see if there is something I am doing wrong earlier in the campaign to make this turn out the same way each time I replay it. I don't necessarily want an easy path to victory, but a little nudge in the right direction would be nice. One question I have is if there is any way to KEEP Harn and Ranhilde instead of foolishly sending them away?

Thanks

[Akkarin345]

To be honest i think your wrong. Alfhem trusted his two advisors. It is like your best freinds betraying you, you don't think straight. To me it shows he had to do something and probobly he over reacted a bit. If i remember right this is about the marrige. He feels ( or at least i think ) that he has had a marrige which wasn't what it looked like. Marrige is a big part of life and Alfhem would be pretty mad that he had been played along.

Next to the mission. I won't give it away but it helps if you kill the first guy. Also the fires do distract the AI which allows you to attack their backs.

Also could you tell us what recall units you have?

[turin]

Hi, I'm the guy wrote Alfhelm the Wise.

A few quick things:
* Yeah, Alfhelm was kinda a moron for doing that. Still, he did it, you have to deal with the consequences. I'm occasionally cruel to the player, I suppose...
* I think 200 gold might not be enough to win the scenario (it'll give you ~9 recalled units, which is not much compared to their army). If possible and easy, you might want to go back a few scenarios and try to get more.
* Actually, looking at the most recent scenario files, you're supposed to have at least 300 gold (so, ~14 recalled units) minimum. So I wouldn't consider it cheating for you to edit your scenario file and give yourself 300 gold.
* The dialogue at the beginning of the scenario implies something about Sextus Raetius. Use that information.
* You are going to lose units, and it will be painful. But don't start assuming once you lose a level 2 or level 3 unit that you're going to lose the scenario. I've often gotten to a point in a scenario where I thought, "damn, they're breaking down my lines of defense, I just lost a level 2 unit, I'm only going to last for a few more turns", but then they just run out of troops and, while I lose a few more units, I still win the scenario. So, don't give up until you've actually lost. This goes along with the previous point about Sextus Raetius.

[Sombra]

After reading this thread I got curious and started playing this campaign.

Wow, very nice. I was a littel bit dissapointed that I am gain a Barbarian...would have prefered to be on the side of the Empire and defend against Barbarians

[turin]

After reading this thread I got curious and started playing this campaign.

Wow, very nice. I was a littel bit dissapointed that I am gain a Barbarian...would have prefered to be on the side of the Empire and defend against Barbarians

If you play Fall of Silvium, you can get your wish, sort of, playing as the Empire about fifty years before the events of Alfhelm the Wise.

[Akkarin345]

I think the Marauders ain't really barbarians or i don't see them like that. They are very sophisticated. Prefer the Sidhe though

[Tigertown84]

Thanks to Akkarin and especially to Turin for responding to my cries for help. I'm especially intrigued by this statement:

* The dialogue at the beginning of the scenario implies something about Sextus Raetius. Use that information.

Soooo...armed with the tips you have given me I will go back and see if I can head into Lavinium Falls/The Betrayal with a little more gold(I refuse to give myself 300 g.p. the other way due to principles ) Then I will try to figure out how to exploit whatever weakness Sextus Raetius has. But man, those Claimants are TOUGH cookies to beat.

Anyway, it's always refreshing when a programmer gives the player a genuine response, and not just a scathing lecture. I really do appreciate it Turin. Keep up the good work, guys like you are the backbone of Wesnoth, and I am always hyped up for each new era and campaign that is put out there by you all. I only wish I knew how to code myself!!

[Akkarin345]

I don't think i've done it on that level of difficulty if you send it to me i'll have a go too with the units you have.