Warlords: Strategic Conquest

You believe you can win this battle without using your arrow bombs. Your secret weapon may prove more useful later on when the odds are more stacked against you. However, this is no time to rely on archers who stand on flat ground. Your infantry dart away to encircle the enemy.

Before Commander Wan's troops know what hit them, you are raining arrows, both regular and giant sized, and bearing down on them from two sides.

This classical Art of War maneuver works to perfection. Chaos ensues in their formerly organized formation. You create mismatches of 2 or even 3 of your infantry against one of theirs. As the enemy soldiers are pinned closer together, your ballista and archers rain death upon them.

It only takes a few hours for the carnage to induce Wan's surrender. You take some losses and your army is down to 10 thousand infantry, 5 thousand archers and one ballista. Nevertheless, you and your soldiers are ecstatic after completely decimating Wan's army while keeping your store of arrow bombs intact. Spirits are high when Commander Wan crawls to you and begs for mercy.

"Please allow me to live," he begs.

You smirk. "What use would I have for a commander without any knowledge of formation tactics? Fool!"

You take over Commander Wan's headquarters. You turn it into your new base of operations, while leaving his severed head on the flagpole as a reminder of your power.

Your spectacular victory and recent string of successes have greatly improved your kingdom's morale. You now control a large portion of northern China. Many men hear tales of your courage and leadership and volunteer to join your fighting force. In addition, skilled carpenters, mechanics, and artisans offer their services to help you build more war machines. Collecting the best and brightest from nearby towns and cities, your army swells to 50 thousand infantry, 10 thousand archers, 40 thousand mounted cavalry, and 5 ballistae.

When word of your victory against Wan reaches the kingdom of Governor Toleron, he readies his 90 thousand troops for defense. His army greets yours on a forest clearing a few miles outside his capital.

You sit in your tent awaiting information from your spies. You tap your toes impatiently and rub your elbows raw on your armrests. Suddenly, your lead spy bats the door flap open and gets down on one knee.

"Sir, Toleron has placed his archers in the dense forest facing us. That allows them to fire on our army positioned in the open without themselves being targets for our archers. We have also found out that Toleron has left 15 ballistae in his castle that he did not bring with him. He must have underestimated our resolve."

You step outside your tent and look out over the battlefield. You cannot see his archers, but you see his 70 thousand infantry lined up a hundred yards in front of the forest. Upon closer inspection, their faces are those of panicked idiots. While your soldiers are both intelligent and brave, Toleron's soldiers are shaking in their boots and look like they would flee at any omen of doom.

You confer with your colonels to decide on the best tactic. Due to now having mounted cavalry as well as arrow bombs, you are able to rule out lesser maneuvers. There is a stiff breeze at your back and the air is dry. Your two best attack options are: