How to play Rebels

[JW]

How to play Rebels:
Back to The "How to play..." Series.

Quick links:
General Rebel Strategies
Rebels v. Undead
Rebels v. Knalgans
Rebels v. Loyalists
Rebels v. Rebels
Rebels v. Drakes
Rebels v. Northerners

[JW]

General Rebel Strategies:
On the first turn when you have a random opponent it is good to get a mixture of units. A Scout, Merman, Archer, 2 Fighters, and a Mage would be an example of such a recruit. When you discover what faction your opponent is, go to the appropriate section below for more advice.

Rebels have good to great defense in forest. Try to keep them there whenever possible, as obvious as that is. Even the easily hit Wose has his best defense (still hit more often than missed) in forest.

Elves are Neutral in alignment, so attack when your opponent is at their weakest. The Mage, Wose, and Merman are Lawful however, so take this into consideration if you recruit these units. You will be strongest in the day, but if your opponent is also strongest in the day it is usually best to fight at night.

One of the Rebels' greatest strengths is their abundance of ranged attacks in harmony with the Dextrous trait. This characteristic gives Rebels frequent chances to attack without taking retaliation damage. It also guarantees any opponent attacking you will take some damage in return.

Rebels also have good mobility, their Scout having the highest level 1 movement in the game (9 moves). The deadly Archer is also gifted with 6 - both are also graced with the speedy woodland movetype. Use this mobility to your advantage early by taking a village advantage and later by ZOCing your opponents weakened units.

[PrinceRepulsive]

edit: [DELETED]

[Baufo]

Wow this needs bumping. *ahem*

BUMP!

No it does not.

The super thread of JW's "How to play..." series is already stickied and you can easily find this very thread from there.
See http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11161

[Elvish Vanquisher]

Why would you want to recruite a mermen if there is no water i never recrute them anyway as they are useless on land , can you please explain why you do this as i mostly use elves but i still have room for improvment , so how does recruiting the mermen help?

[Baufo]

Why would you want to recruite a mermen if there is no water i never recrute them anyway as they are useless on land , can you please explain why you do this as i mostly use elves but i still have room for improvment , so how does recruiting the mermen help?

Most of the mainline maps have some water in them. Thus it is a good idea to recruit mermen on them. Some don't. Thus it is a good idea not to recruit mermen on them.

Most people have common sense. Some don't.

[Elvish Vanquisher]

Hope the last line was not directed at me

but it would be better to spend your money on a fighter who can go on and fight a lot better on a more terain than a merman?

[Velensk]

Mermen have a 60% def anywhere in water and move fast they also deal decent damage especialy at day. A merman in the water is probably stronger than a land unit on the plains or even the hills. Yes their movment is slowed by open that is why generaly you keep them in water. On maps where there is lots of water or ford they can be quicker and harder to hit than other units.

Edit: also they can fight and control in water where other units can't do so well.

[Baufo]

Mermen have a 60% def anywhere in water and move fast they also deal decent damage especialy at day. A merman in the water is probably stronger than a land unit on the plains or even the hills. Yes their movment is slowed by open that is why generaly you keep them in water. On maps where there is lots of water or ford they can be quicker and harder to hit than other units.

Edit: also they can fight and control in water where other units can't do so well.

Well said, amen.

[UngeheuerLich]

they also have great defense in forests and a decent cold resist and much hp....

---> great unit for grabbing villages near enemy base... all races except elves and lozalist have a hard time getting rid of them...

edit: forests... what were i smoking... i meant swamps

[Elvish Vanquisher]

I see well i buy merman now thanks for the help!

[Blarumyrran]

at first i thought merman hunter would be the ideal archenemy of the drakes (i mean, it has both melee and ranged pierce), but they sure do die fast, even in water. scouting with a lone merman isnt that smart idea against drakes, i learned it the hard way long time ago.

[Elvish Scientist]

This is in my opinion the hardest match for the elves. Northenerns, loyalist and drakes are OK, undead take more care, but dwarves... Dwarves need many hits to be killed and sometimes only one to kill. Especially thunderers are very dangerous. The other units can be slowed and killed afterwards.
You need a few units to attack effectively, and not all of them can be on high defense terrain. The unit on low defense terrain will have a very good chance of dying next turn.
It is hard to level up a elf vs dwarves, while having a few leveled units is essential to elvish succes.
If found that on maps with only small patches of wood, it is more important to deny dwarves access to the mountains than to remain in the forest. Put your elf on the mountain so the dwarf is forced to stand in the forest, which does not give him any advantage.
Of course the shaman is extremely important in this match, but she better does not try to slow a thunderer.
What tactics do other players use as rebels vs knalgans?

[nebula955]

Trees....they can counter all but the axemen which are countered well by mages/archers, even then doing heavy retal. Shaman tends to die too easily to ulfs for simply 4 hp healing... way too easily ulfed.

[Elvish Scientist]

Yes, woses work quite well: they survive a hit from a thunderer.
Do not underestimate the use of shamans. The healing is a nice extra. Their real benefit is slow dwarvish fighters and gryphon riders. They have a good change of hitting them, which makes them much less dangerous.