Scenario 12: Northern Winter

Feedback for the mainline campaign Heir to the Throne.

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Lord-Knightmare
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Re: Scenario 12: Northern Winter

Post by Lord-Knightmare »

Content Feedback wrote: December 7th, 2005, 4:07 pm (1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
1. Normal/Wesnoth 1.15.12+dev
2. 6/10
3. crystal clear
4. 6/10
5. Rushing the enemies so I could get the good defensible spot.
6. 6/10
7. It's good as it is.
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mal_shubertal
Posts: 93
Joined: December 1st, 2018, 6:58 pm

Re: Scenario 12: Northern Winter

Post by mal_shubertal »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
1.16.2 Challenging.
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3. enemies were weak, mostly maneuvering/terrain challenges.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
very
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Good. I like the realism of an army needing to deal with winter, and an army getting worn out after walking around and fighting for their lives for months.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Dividing my forces between the east and west flanks. You have to kind of eyeball the enemy and how many are needed on each side. Also dealing with the snow with some of my units being ridiculously slow.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
7. Pretty easy, but the big map, difficult terrain, and lots of wolves means the fighting is less linear and you need to think about the map more holistically and think about map control/scouting. I also like that the terrain gets very difficult right around the enemy keeps and they keep on recruiting to the very end, which makes the end of the scenario not be just 'stroll up to the enemy leader and whack him'.
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Perhaps stronger wolves? The scenario is very interesting as is, a big wide complex slow map control challenge rather than a more focused pitched battle. But the enemy units are so weak that it's just a matter of mopping them up for most of the scenario and there isn't much tension. So I think if the enemy recruited some lvl 2 wolves, that could make it more interesting. Most of the enemy units in the last few scenarios were level 2, so this decrease in difficulty seems weird.

Another possible change would be decreasing the starting gold. One of the cool aspects of the Isle of Alduin, which is a pretty similar scenario, was that you couldn't just spend all your starting gold and then charge, you had to sit around in your keep while you built up your income, then make a decision about when to stop recruiting. This map has the potential for that kind of gameplay too. If you started out with very low starting gold, then you would be forced to stay in your keep longer and focus your early recruitment on village grabbing and holding territory until you could amass a force to take out the leaders.
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lujo86
Posts: 41
Joined: January 31st, 2023, 9:50 am

Re: Scenario 12: Northern Winter

Post by lujo86 »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?

1.16.8
Highest

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)

5

I came in with barely any upgraded elven troops (a lvl2 archer with ambush, a lvl2 healer, a lvl3 rider and 2x lvl 3 Marshalls), and other than that recruited only fresh elvish troops to level them. If I came in with more lvl2 and lvl3 elves it would've been much easier, or if I wasn't using it to try to level up a lot of units / recover from losses in the Valley.

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?

Clear.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?

Fine enough. It's not really spelled out what the map snowing up would mean (reduced mobility), so I can see it sneaking up on people if they take it too slow.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?

It's a very straightforward scenario, so the challenge was reading the map correctly, recruiting correctly and deploying/positioning correctly.

I think I didn't, in fact, do *that* great of a job. I recruited 2 corps of 3x Elvish Fighter + Marshal, with an archer and a shaman for each, assigned Delfador to one and the elf prince guy to the other and sent them to the woods in the middle of the map intending to have the enemy advances crash into them, while they guard each others backs, absorb the initial rush, then plow towards the enemy bases.

In retrospect, what I should've done is recruit 3 squads, because the western opponent managed to get a number of troops south enough that I ended up forced into 3 fronts (one from the blue enemy, one diagonal from green, and the green forces from the west), spreading me a bit too thin and slowing my progress.

I also should've recruited more than one village-grabber, and would've done a lot better if I recalled my Sylph (or a Sydhe if I had one) to back up the Outrider which I was using to grab villages. This is because I wasn't expecting the opponent to be able to spam up so many units, and, also, that the opponent would sent upgraded Trolls village-grabbing alongside wolves. Having a flying spellcaster to back my Outrider up would've saved me quite some hassle.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)

It was actually quite fun. It's a rare elf-paradise map in this campaign, and, also it's fair enough of a challenge despite being straightforward. 7, I guess.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?

The map seems to accomplish what it's out to accomplish. It's fun enough.

(8) POSSIBLE BUG

The map started me with one of my random Footpads as a starting unit, which is both contrary to what the walkthrough implies, and very odd because it wasn't the highest level footpad-line unit I had in the reserve (it was the highest XP Footpad, specifically, though). Might not have been intended, IDK.
lujo86
Posts: 41
Joined: January 31st, 2023, 9:50 am

Re: Scenario 12: Northern Winter

Post by lujo86 »

Small addendum after an additional run:

I did it again as part of a run where I steamrolled Valley with Mages, arriving here with stronger troops available.

This time I kept Conrad back recruiting for a good while. Since I mageballed Valley, I had a Silver Mage available, and I used her in tandem with an Outrider to stop enemy incursion into the south west edge, allowing me to grab and keep all the villages I went for, an income, and the ability to keep reinforcing. What I was reinforcing were three captain-many fighter-archer/ranger squads advancing north, north-west and west.

This time I arrived with less gold somehow (didn't milk the Ford as hard as I did on the other run), so I neglected to recruit healers. This caused the middle to sorta-collapse into a frantic mess of individual heroism rather than the satisfying organized (but at times desperate) combat of the other run, and I ended up fighting the orcs on mountains more often than what was wise.

Very good elf map, but also a very good map for a Silver Mage. If I'd have kept my cool in the middle better, the Mage would've glued all the disparate squads together splendidly.

(8) POSSIBLE BUG

Again the map started me with a low-level bandit unit, a Thief, who was useless, died, and wouldn't have been recruited in the first place.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?

This time I really noticed that the enemy leaders don't have any range capability, and, also, that they don't seem to attack even when there are enemy units in their keeps, and they wouldn't need to move or be in much danger if they did attack something. I feel like they really could be lvl 3 Grunts, or, really, anything with a ranged attack. Having them just stand there like punching bags feels very unsatisfying, and, also, having the bossess not have range retaliation capabilities in a map that heavily incentivises you to use a lot of elves, just feels lame.
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ElvishMystical0
Posts: 33
Joined: September 19th, 2018, 12:15 am

Re: Scenario 12: Northern Winter

Post by ElvishMystical0 »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
Versions 1.12 to 1.16 Easy and medium. This feedback is specific to 1.16 on Medium.
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
If we're talking relative to the whole campaign this is a 2-3 and for me one of the easiest scenarios in the campaign.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Very clear.
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Regarding my earlier comments about Konrad's lack of character here he comes out with an opinion and shows some personality. It significantly improves the storyline. He's starting to show leadership and it kind of fits that as a young commander he wants to rest and take care of his troops.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
This is where I have to face the issues regarding the way I play Elves and usually having enough levelled Shaman units I shift my focus onto offensive Elvish units - Fighters, Archers and Scouts.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
This for me is a 7-8. Even though the scenario is not demanding, I'm going all out for XP and building my army for later scenarios. This is where I discover how well my Elvish forces do as a complete force or army. Even the Ogres and Trolls are not an issue because I have enough Shamen type units to slow the heavy hitters and send the Archers north west and the mages north east to deal with the Trolls.
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
No suggestions.
Orek
Posts: 27
Joined: June 24th, 2020, 1:02 am

Re: Scenario 12: Northern Winter

Post by Orek »

Content Feedback wrote: (1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
(1) Challenging (=Champion=Hardest) in 1.14.17 on permadeath
(2) 6 (10th most difficult = 14th easiest)
... [Difficult] 2, 16, 14, 4, 9, 6, 5b, 10, 13, 12, 23, 8, 7, 3, 15, 17, 19c, 22, 1, 20b, 11, 24, 18 [Easy]
(3) Very clear
(4) Clear and interesting enough
(5) It was challenging to keep a defensive line to prevent enemy units, especially Wolf Riders, from coming from behind. This scenario was more difficult than I originally expected.
(6) 6 (11th most fun = 13th most boring)
... [Fun] 2, 1, 6, 9, 5b, 4, 16, 15, 23, 3, 12, 14, 10, 24, 13, 8, 7, 19c, 20b, 11, 17, 22, 18 [Boring]
(7) None

YouTube Link: Run 1 Run 2 Run 3
Walkthrough: HttT walkthrough (hardest, permadeath, v1.14.17) + General campaign guides (Replays for all scenarios can be downloaded from here.)
JL42
Posts: 66
Joined: December 9th, 2023, 11:19 am

Re: Scenario 12: Northern Winter

Post by JL42 »

What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
v. 1.16.10
Lord / Challenging
How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3
How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Very clear.
How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Very clear; moderately interesting.
What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
This is another fun "rebuilding" map that manages to provide lots of easy XP and gold while at the same time maintaining interesting objectives and combat. There's not a lot that is difficult here, but probably the main challenge is in keeping containment so that the enemies don't get behind you and steal all the villages. Also recognize that the increasing snow means you will be moving slower as time goes by, so don't linger in moving toward the enemy leaders. The way that the individual tiles gradually change to frozen is a really nifty dynamic that keeps you on your toes.
How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
8
What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
None.

---------------
About the Overall Campaign:

The maps and storyline here are well-made and polished, though not as completely epic as some of the other campaigns. I like that it is lengthy, giving you time to develop your army, and gradually introduces many different terrains and unit types. This seems like a great beginner campaign since it's fairly easy and the early scenarios are framed as a kind of mentoring environment for the young hero. (However, it's a bit strange that some of the basic dialogue tips, like "hey, loyal units don't require upkeep!" are just now arriving, after I've already played through several previous campaigns without that advice.) There are some glitches that can come up in the Scepter of Fire scenario, and some of the princess-related dialogue around scenarios 17–21 felt a bit confusing and unbelievable (more specific comments in the relevant threads). This campaign is very close to full marks, but due to those few lingering issues and the lack of any real epic blow-you-away maps I'm going to rate it 4 out of 5.
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