123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 ********************************************* Genghis Kahn II: Clan of the Grey Wolf (SNES) A Guide by Greg Hartman Contact: good_catholic_boy /at/ yahoo /dot/ com aolim: goodcatholicboy9 -if you are lame, don't bother contacting me -if using email, please indicate in the subject that you are asking me about this guide. very rarely do i bother opening emails from people i don't know that have blank subject lines. If contacting me via my aol screen name, be warned that i check it sporadically so I very well might not get your message. Email probably works best. -the only language i can speak with any degree of clarity is english. please, if you are contacting me, do so in english (although if you require an answer that is only half-intelligible, german might work also). definitely do not bother emailing me in any other language; i won't even respond. ******************************************** Version History Version 1.00 (06/09/04) -first version of guide Version 1.01 (06/14/04) -proofreading, some minor clarifications throughout Version 1.02 (06/16/04) -proofreading, a minor correction ******************************************** Contents: I. Introduction II. Starting a Game III. The Command Screen IV. War V. Misc. Tips VI. Credits VII. Legal ******************************************** I. Introduction Genghis Kahn II is a strategy game that is roughly contemporary to Romance of the Three Kingdoms II and Nobunaga's Ambition II, but focuses instead on global domination (at least in the old world sense) around the 12th century. The game is loosely centered around Genghis Kahn, who, as you probably remember from history class, unified the Mongol tribes and then set out to conquer his neighbors. As a player, you have the ability to take the place of any number of rulers during this time period in order to prevent Mongolian expansion through conquest of your own. The nations you can control vary geographically from Britain to Japan with several options in between. Like most of its predecessors, all gameplay is turn-based, with each game turn representing a season. The game ends when your kingdom either conquers the world or is destroyed by its neighbors. Ultimately, the game represents a mostly successful incarnation of these goals. Of course, like most strategy simulations of the time period the game has its flaws, but a gamer with a well trained eye will be able to overlook these faults to enjoy what Genghis Kahn II has to offer. A final note with respect to this guide is to mention that it was made using the SNES version of the game, so if there are any differences between your version and this one, it very well may be accounted for in slight variations between the versions. ******************************************** II. Starting a Game There are four scenarios from which you can choose to play. The fourth scenario is unavailable until you successfully complete the 1st by the end of 1214. 1. Mongol Conquest - This scenario is different from all the others in that you play on a map of Mongolia, rather than on the regular world map. There are four different tribes that you can select. Undeniably, the two easiest forces in this scenario are either the Mongols (province 1) or the Naimans (provinces 12 and 14). The Naimans are only fair in the talent department, but they are the only tribe that starts out with two territories. On top of this, their lands are positioned in such a way that it is very easy for them to expand quickly. The Mongols, on the other hand have a pretty good ruler in Temujin (aka Genghis Kahn) and have a bunch of capable officers. The only problem is that they start out in a district that is surrounded by enemies. The Keriats (province 7), on the other hand, start out in a less than ideal district and without any very talented officers. The Jaradans are likewise more of a challenge, because although their ruler is quite good, they start only with a single crummy officer and few troops. If you succeed in conquering the entire country by 1214, you will be able to select 8 generals and then proceed to the world conquest scenario. You will also permanently unlock the scenario, but Genghis Kahn will be the default ruler of Mongolia. 2. Genghis Kahn (1206) - This scenario, like all of the following, takes place on the world map. Generally, this time period is fairly well balanced. Of the rulers you can play, John I starts out very nicely protected in isolated England. He also has some decent generals, but he personally is generally pretty lousy with a D in politics. His people also tend not to like him. He's certainly still worth playing though. Phillip II in France is also a good choice. He starts with good officers, and he personally is an excellent leader, with an A in politics and Bs in all other categories. Genghis Kahn in Mongolia starts with a ton of good generals, a fairly large army, and a capabable ruler. The only downside is that he is already 44. He does have 4 capable sons, but none are really skilled in politics and don't match their father in other areas. Ala al- Din of the Khorezem Empire is doable, but he starts in a really rough area and expanding will certainly be difficult. His one child, once made a general, is pretty good. Ghuri of the Ghore Sultanate is the only selectable ruler with more than one district, and this generally makes up for his rather poor generals. Finally, Minamoto in Japan is also a fairly balanced choice. He has decent generals, and the islands of Japan are fairly well protected from the outside. He also starts with an army of samurai. Again, almost any ruler in this scenario is about as good as another. 3. Yuan Dynasty (1271) - This scenario has much less parity than the the former. The Yuan Dynasty, ruled by Kublai Khan, is by far the most powerful force on the map. They also start with a plenty of good officers and well-developed lands. Kublai Kahn's children, however, are only of medium-low quality. Kublai Khan himself, on the other hand, is quite good. The Kamakura Shoganate based in Japan is a tough play simply by virtue of being so close to such a powerhouse. Their ruler, Hojo, doesn't help matters much by having a D in politics. Over on the other side of Eurasia, Charles I in Italy is a playable choice, if only by virtue of his own personal stats. His son is laughably average. Having only one country also doesn't help. Michael VIII is an even more difficult choice, since he isn't as good at ruling as Charles, and his officers are few in number and low in ability. He also starts in an area close to other more powerful forces. The Il-Kahn empire is geographically the second largest compared to the Yuan Dynasty, and is also a sound choice. Abaga is a decent ruler, but his son really stinks politically. The Mameluke Sultanate is also a possibility, although again successor problems can develop. 4. World Conquest (1185) - Very similar to the second scenario, except that you can select some different rulers. Richard I is ruling in England, but he is a fairly tough play, since abandoning his country to fight in the crusades has earned him an E in politics. He still has some decent officers though, and England remains a geographically safe region to expand out from, so don't completely reject playing as him. Frederick I of the (Holy) Roman Empire is a slightly tougher choice, due to his old age, average successors, and a tougher geographical starting point. Isaacius II in the Balkans has a similar problem, although he is slightly younger, and his children slightly better. Unfortunately, he starts closer to the powerful Ayyubids, so he is no cakewalk either. The Ayyubids, for their part, have two powerful countries and a very good leader in Salah al-Din. The only downside is that he is middle aged and without any capable successor. The Mongols are similar to their status in the second scenario, but all of their followers are younger. They are still a very good choice. Last, but not least, is the fairly powerful Kamakura Shogunate. They have pretty good officers and a fine leader in Minamoto, so, given their solid geographical position, they should present no real difficulty. After you have finished selecting your ruler and the scenario, you will be asked whether or not you want to view wars in which your kingdom's ruler is not directly involved. For the most part, this is a matter of personal preference, but be warned that simulated battles are skewed very much in favor of the attacker. Battles you actually do watch, on the other hand, leave a much larger chance for a successful defense. Next you will be asked if you wish to view combat between units. This is *much* more time consuming than simply watching wars. No matter what, if your ruler's unit is attacked, you will watch the combat between the units. Generally, for expediency's sake, i leave this set to no, but again, it's a matter of personal preference. Definitely set it to no if you plan on using a lot of units with bows and don't have many arms/arrows. Also definitely set it to no if you are using an army with 3 long distance units and only one melee unit, because that unit stinks unless you simulate the battle. If you are looking to win as quickly as possible, set both to 'no' and read the misc. tips section at the end of this guide. Having decided that, you are thrusted into command of your particular army. ******************************************* II. The command screen As soon as the computer decides it is your nation's turn for the particular season, you will be brought to the main country command screen. If you have an advisor, he will ask you if you want to issue orders yourself. If you hit no, your advisor will propose some activities, and you will be able to choose to allow him to do them or not. Unless you are very lazy, you should almost always issue orders yourself, unless your ruler has very poor politics and very few body points. Hitting 'Yes' will bring up a menu of commands, but first an explanation of the numbers on the screen: In the upper left corner will be a portrait of your ruler and his name. Since he is your nation's ruler (and is thus in his own bloodline) he will have a little crown next to his name. Next to his portrait is a small picture of a torso with a number next to it. The number next to it is the amount of body points he currently has. These are expended whenever he does an action, based on his politics level. See the section on character stats for more information. Below your ruler's portrait is another portrait. If you have an advisor, this will be his picture, and his name will be listed underneath it. If you don't have an advisor, a picture will still be there, but it will just be a random schmoe, and he won't have a name listed. In the upper right corner is a white box with the current season and year. Below this is the current rate multiplier for the game's 4 types of merchants. This is only a general reflection of prices, as different traders are willing to pay different amounts for different goods. More on this later. In the box centered on the bottom of the screen is a wealth of information about your territory. This can be toggled by pressing either L or R on your controller. In the first page: 1. (top left - gold coin picture) - gold you have in your province. Gold is used to hire and salary troops, buy food, specialties, or arms, pacify the people, or to give as tribute to other rulers. The max is 9999. The number in red (or green) next to your gold supply indicates the season's change. Every unit must be payed 10 gold per season, and your nation collects taxes every spring. You can also gain gold by extorting it from other rulers or by selling food or specialties to a merchant, if they are present. If you do not have enough gold to pay your troops, a portion of them will desert. Make sure you always have enough money. 2. (left middle - meat picture) - the amount of food you have in your territory. Food is used to feed your people and your troops when they are in battle. You can also sell it for money or give it to the people to raise their loyalty. The number next to it is the seasonal change, red is negative, green is positive. You gain food by having the population devote its labor to herding and also by a harvest every autumn that is based on your nations's population and its agricultural development. If you don't have enough food to meet the seasonal change, your people will become very unhappy and are likely to rise in revolt. If an army in the field runs out of food, the soldiers will slowly start to desert. You can buy food from the merchant, usually at about 1*(market rate)/per unit of food. The max is 9999. 3. (left bottom - picture of people and a house) - the amount of civilian population living in your territory. This rises over time slowly and also increases when you disband troops at a rate of 200*x where x is the amount of units you disband. Higher populations increase a territory's development more quickly and also produce more output from herding and specialties production. Drafting troops or disasters such as the plague will lower it. Warfare, particularly warfare fought primarily in towns, will also lower it. The max is 9999. 4. (middle top - picture of a blue bag and a gold piece) - the commercial development of your territory. The maximum is 200. The higher the commercial development, the more money the area produces from taxes in the spring. Warfare or disasters lower it. Allocating a high proportion of the population to construction increases it, as does raising the nation's population in total numbers, or having your advisor invest gold in its development. Certain cultures are more likely to have high economies. 5. (middle center - picture of wheat) - the agricultural development of your country. Higher agriculture increases the annual harvest in the fall. It goes up if you increase the proportion of the population working in the fields and also increases as the total population does. Disasters and warfare lower it. It also increases relative to the climate in the country. Very arid climates generally have much lower agricultural development than do more moist ones. Finally, your advisor can invest a small amount of gold to temporarily raise your agriculture. The max is 200. 6. (middle bottom - picture of a king yelling at someone) - the people's loyalty towards your kingdom. The higher this number is, the faster the area develops and the less likely the populace is to rise in revolt. It increases when you give money, food, or specialties to the people, and decreases when you draft or disband soldiers, collect a special tax, your nation is attacked/hit by a disaster, or you don't have enough food to meet the seasonal change. If it falls to around 30, you should be prepared for a rebellion. To the far right is a picture that is supposed to represent the territory's culture and below that is the weather of the region. First the culture: 1. Western Europe - represented by a castle with high spires. This stretches from spain, up to England and east up into Germany. Commerce and farming both develop well, although commerce increases slightly more quickly. Don't bother herding much in these regions. (< 5%) 2. Eastern Europe - represented with a more square looking castle. Stretches from the Balkans northward and then eastward into the Ukraine. Generally, this is very similar to Western Europe, but agriculture improves faster than does commerce. 3. Middle East - All of north Africa, Asia Minor, as well as what is today referred to as the Middle East. Represented by a picture of pyramids. Depending on the climate of the region, agriculture might still be relatively successful, but in the more arid sections, herding might be more profitable. Commerce increases fairly quickly in these regions. 4. India - represented by a building with an onion shaped dome. This area is only present in the areas of what is today India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (which is territories 21, 22, and 23) and also in the region of SE Asia that is today Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Cambodia etc (territory 14). In the wetter southern regions, agriculture increases slightly more quickly, but otherwise the economy and the fields develop fairly closely. 5. Central Asia - represented by a small building, some mountains, and birds in the sky. This region expands from the area east of the Ukraine and down to the limits of India (territories, 2, 8, 7, and 3). Tibet is included as well (territory 9) The weather is generally very arid, and agriculture does not develop well. Commerce develops fairly slowly too, but can still do marginally well. You might want to have some people engaged in herding. 6. Mongolia - represented by two small huts. Both farming and commerce develop slowly and have low maximum values. This is one of the few areas where it pays to devote some of the population to herding. Only Mongolia has this culture. 7. China - represented by a picture of the Great Wall. All of Korea as well as areas 4, 5, 12, and 13. By far the best and most productive culture. Commerce and agiculture increase very quickly. Definitely do not waste time herding here. 8. Japan - represented by a Japanese style pagoda. Commerce does not develop very well, but agriculture does. Allows you to hire Samuruai units. The only place with this culture is the island of Japan. Climates: Note: I am _much_ less sure about these. Df - Cool, dry regions Dw - Warm, dry regions B - Arid regions A - Hot, wet regions Cs - Temperate Mediterranean type weather Cw - Temperate dry weather Cfb - Temperate wet weather Cfa - Temperate very wet weather? Whatever the abbreviations are, they don't make any sense to me. Hitting R or L will change the contents of this box. The new information is: (top left - picture of wheat) - the percentage of the population engaged in farming. The higher this is, the faster the fields will develop. (middle left - picture of a sheep) - the percentage of the population engaged in herding. The higher this is, the more food that will be produced every season from herding. (bottom left - picture of a gift) - the percentage of the population currently engaged in producing the territory's specialty good. A picture of the good is next to the number. (middle top - picture of two houses) - the percentage of the population currently engaged in construction. The higher this is, the faster the economy and defense of the area will increase. (middle center - picture of a wall) - defense of this territory. This value assigns a certain advantage to units that are fortified in either a castle, city or fort on the battlefield map. The higher the number, the bigger the advantage. (top right - picture of two soldiers) - the number of military units currently stationed in this area. The maximum is 20. (middle right - picture of a spear and shield) - the arms level of the troops currently stationed in this territory. The maximum is 100. The higher the arms level of troops, the more effective they are in battle and the more projectiles they will have available for long range attacks. (bottom right - picture of two soldiers with swords outstretched) - the training level of the troops currently stationed in this country. The maximum is 100. The higher the training level of troops, the greater their mobility and quality in battle. There will also be a menu of options on the right. These are the commands you can carry out. In describing these commands, I will be using body point totals assuming your ruler has a politics rating of C, as this is the middle ground. Simply add 2 if you ruler has an E, and 1 if he has a D. Likewise, subtract 2 if he has an A and 1 if he has a B. Example: My C politics ruler trains troops at a cost of 5 body points, but a ruler with A in politics would do it for 3. A. Policy commands 1. (two scrolls and a star) - set policies - body point cost: 6 - Set comprehensive policies for a state to follow. Obviously, you can only do this to areas within your own empire. This is the only way you can control provinces that are ruled by someone who is not your ruler. After selecting this command, the first thing you'll have to do is set the allocation of labor in the territory. In all but a few regions, you'll generally want to minimize the amount of herding, as it does not really help that much. If you divide the remainder fairly evenly you'll probably be fine. Next you'll set the overall policy for the territory, either domestic, military, economic, or balanced. In practice I am unsure about the differences between economic and domestic. I usually select domestic because it doesn't feel as though it changes much in the long run anyway. After that you'll have to set the investment area. Note that this only works in states that have advisors, because only they can use the invest command. Really, this does not seem to be a critical decision either, just pick whichever arena you'd rather see develop more quickly (I generally stick with economy). The next decision is military policy, either quantity, quality, arms, or balanced. There is a huge difference between quantity and quality, and generally if this is a border state, you want quantity. Otherwise, you are better off selecting quality, in order to prevent non border states from amassing huge armies and then rebelling. With this command, the computer will focus on training the existing soldiers rather than hiring new ones. I almost never ask them to focus on buying arms, because I would rather be able to have them move money around rather than spending on arms for soldiers that probably won't see much action. Finally, you will set the diplomatic policy. Another state in your empire that you don't control directly will never attack another state unless you set the policy to invade. If you set it to extort, the other state will occasionally demand tribute, but won't invade. Choosing coexist will cause the computer to more or less ignore diplomacy completely. I have never bothered to set a policy to submit, and I am unsure why anyone would really want that as their diplomatic policy. Generally, if you are concerned about the computer over expanding, set this policy to extort or coexist. 2. (picture of a scroll and a man in blue) - advisor policies - body point cost: 7 - If you use this command your advisor will create new policies for the selected state. After he has proposed his suggested policies you can change them as you see fit. There is really little reason to ever use this command, because it uses more body points than just doing it yourself, and you also won't have to go through changing his dopey policies. It is rare that your advisor will come up with fantastic policies. 3. (picture of an unfurled scroll) - change policies - body point cost: 3 - This command allows you to change a single policy of a state without expending the high body point cost of completely re-writing them. You can only use it on a state that already has policies decreed to it. 4. (picture of an unfurled scroll crossed out) - delegate - body point cost: 3 - cancels all policies for a state and allows the governor to rule as he wishes. *Important notes for policies* If a governor does not have enough body points to change labor allocation in his territory, it does not matter what you set his labor allocation to, since he won't ever be able to change it. Generally, if you want to avoid this make sure that you always appoint someone as governor who has at least 10 body points if they have an E in politics. Also, note that a state that you just conquer (or reconquer in case of rebellion) defaults to delegated control, so the first thing you will probably want to do is write some policies for it. B. Domestic Commands 1. (picture of four people) - allocate labor - body point cost: 7 - allocate the labor of your particular territory. This is the only way to actually change it when you are in your home province. You can only control the allocation of labor in other states in your empire through setting policies. 2. (picture of a man handing a king a box) - collect a special tax - body point cost: 10 - demand your people give you a special payment of money. You can enter the amount to demand. Your people's loyalty will drop. The amount of tax that you can collect is the amount of people living in your territory/10+1. Note that you don't simply round up the last figure, you always add one and drop the decimal. 3. (picture of a king handing a man a box) - give to the people - body point cost: 8 - give either food, gold, or specialty items to the people in order to raise their loyalty. I think that your ruler's charm effects how effective these gifts are. Obviously, the more you give your people, the greater the increase in their loyalty. C. Order Commands 1. (picture of a sword and a horse) - order an attack - body point cost: 5 - order a vassal state to attack an enemy on its next turn. As long as your governor has enough food, gold, and body points to do so, he will carry out your order, even if going to war would be suicide. Note also that if the state has only about 200 gold it won't warn you first - it'll just attack with all it can afford to send (4 units). It is prudent to examine a state closely so as to avert embarrassing defeats before ordering it to attack. 2. (picture of a bag and an arrow) - send order - body point cost: 4 - order a vassal state to send another territory within your empire a set amount of either food or gold. As long as your governor has enough body points to do so, he should carry out the order on his next turn. 3. (picture of a horse and an arrow) - move order - body point cost: 4 - order a vassal state to move troops to another territory within your empire. As long as his area has troops to move and the governor has enough body points, he will carry out your order on his next turn. 4. (picture of two men shaking hands) - order diplomacy - body point cost: 6 - order a vassal state to either demand tribute or surrender from a neighboring territory. As long as your governor has enough body points, he should carry out the order on his next turn. D. Diplomacy Commands 1. (picture of a king with a sword) - demand surrender - body point cost: 7 - demand the surrender of a neighboring force. Once you select the state, you'll have to select an officer to send to make the negotiation. In my experience, I seem to have the best results with officers with high charm, but I could be imagining this. It really doesn't hurt to try this command, because it is entirely possible to convince some opponents to surrender to you, even if they are still capable of putting up a fight. 2. (picture of two flags and an = ) - forge alliance - body point cost: 6 - ask a neighboring state to enter into a period of alliance with your empire. Alliances can be anywhere from one to eight years, and are impossible to cancel. They are good ways to secure yourself on a particular front so as to concentrate on another enemy. Again, try to send someone with high charm to negotiate the alliance. 3. (picture of a king and a gold coin) - demand tribute - body point cost: 6 - demand a neighoring country pay you tribute. If they accept they will send you a fraction of their money. Send your officer with the highest charm. E. Person Commands 1. (picture of a man sitting in a chair) - appoint a governor - body point cost:6 - this command allows you to appoint a governor to one of your vassal states. Generally, the most important characteristic to look for in a governor is his politics ability, since this is what controls how many actions he can take in a turn. On the other hand, rebellions are quite common, so you are much better off entrusting a state to an officer who is related to you in some compacity, either by marriage or by blood, as they will never betray you. I have read somewhere (I don't know where) that officers with higher political ability are more likely to rebel, but I am unsure myself if this is true. 2. (picture of a man with a small crown) - make prince a general - body point cost: 5 - this command allows you to make one of your sons an active general. You need to have a son who is at least 10 years old in order to use this command. For some reason a son can never become an advisor. 3. (picture of a man in a robe and a funny hat) - appoint or dismiss an advisor - body point cost: 6 - you will then have to choose between an arrow up and an arrow down. There is no reason to ever dismiss an advisor unless you are appointing a new one, and if you appoint an advisor to a territory that already has one this will happen automatically. You should try to make sure that every state has an advisor. An advisor will only give advice on alliances and other diplomacy if they have a B or better in their Politics stat. 4. (picture of a girl) - arrange marriage - body point cost: 4 - marry a daughter off to another general in order to ensure his loyalty. You must have a daughter who is at least 10 years old in order to use this command. An officer who is related to you by marriage will never rebel and seize power himself. 5. (picture of a guy) - appoint or dismiss general - body point cost: 5 - either raise a local man and promote him to general or dismiss a current general and send him wandering the countryside. If you are just starting out, there is a chance that if you try to promote an officer you will find one that is fairly skilled. Later in the game, however, if you use this command you are very likely to find officers that have E's in everything and 5 body points. Unless you need to make room in order to make a son a general, you will probably never need to dismiss anyone. 6. (picture of a heart) - spend time with family - body point cost: 5 - visit your wife and any children you have that are older than 10. It is important to do this fairly often so that your wife will continue to bang out children that you can either make generals or marry off to somebody to ensure that they will remain loyal to you. If your ruler passes away without a male successor, the game is over. Note also that only a son can succeed your ruler, and not a son-in-law. Thus boy children are more valuable than girls. F. Market Commands (only accessible if a merchant is in your territory) 1. (picture of an arrow going into a house) - sell goods - body point cost: 4 - sell goods to a merchant based on the rate. The higher the rate, the more money you will fetch for your goods. Certain merchants also are willing to pay more money for certain goods. For the most part, you can use common sense and supply and demand to determine who will pay the most for your goods. For example, the Venetian merchant will pay a lot for spices, and the Islamic merchant will pay a lot for textiles. Note also that all your territories produce specialty goods and they all are collected into one large pool that only the ruler (and not any governor with delegated control) can sell. 2. (picture of two soldiers) - hire mercenaries - body point cost: 4 - hire some mercenaries to fight for your army. The cost is variable based upon the current market rate. Also note that different merchants have different units available. Unless prices are very low (.5 or .6) it is cheaper to draft units, but mercenary units don't lower your population or people's loyalty and come better trained and equipped than do conscripts. 3. (picture of an arrow going away from a house) - buy goods - body point cost: 4 - buy goods from a merchant. The price for particular goods varies depending on the merchant and the current market rate. G. War Commands 1. (picture of a sword and a horse) - war - body point cost: 6 - attack a neighboring territory. You will first be asked if you wish to command the army yourself. If you select no and do not have watch battles set to 'on' then the battle will be simulated, otherwise you will watch the battle with no command over it. If you choose to go personally you will have control over the battle. Next, your advisor will ask you if you wish to form the units for the battle yourself. If you agree to, you'll assign paticular troops into units, with a maximum of 4 groups per unit. Deploying one unit costs the territory fifty gold. You'll also have to choose a commander for each unit after the first. Finally, you'll be asked how much gold and food to send with the troops. Gold is unnecessary on the battlefield, but, of course food is not. Each group of troops can carry 200 food and consumes about 10 food per day. Send enough food so that you can be assured you will not run out on the battlefield. For more info on waging war, see section IV. 2. (picture of 2 soldiers) - draft - body point cost: 4 - draft soldiers from the local population. Depending on the region in which your territory is located you will be able to draft different soldiers. This is usually the cheapest way to augment your army (unless prices are exceedingly low) but it also lowers the area's population and people's loyalty. 3. (picture of an arrow an a horse) - move troops - body point cost: 5 - this command allows you to move either your ruler or a group of soldiers into a neighboring friendly territory. If move your ruler, the old governor of the territory into which you are moving will replace you in the original state. 4. (picture of two soldiers with swords outstretched) - train troops - body point cost: 5 - train the soldiers in your home base. The training level will increase. The fewer troops you are training and the higher your ruler's war, the bigger the increase in fighting skill. 5. (picture of a bag with an arrow) - move goods - body point cost: 4 - send either food or money to another province. 6. (picture of a sad looking soldier and a large X) - dismiss troops - body point cost: 6 - disband legions of soldiers. The ex soldiers will join the population of the city and will slightly lower the people's loyalty. You generally only want to use this command if you already have 20 units and you want to upgrade by eliminating weak units and replacing them with powerful ones. H. Info Commands Note: none of these use body points, except when you use the 'view another territory' command to view an enemy's state; it then uses one body point. 1. (picture of a mirror) - view home province - this brings up a new menu of commands. a. (hill and flag) - nation data - views the data normally accessible from the command screen b. (two flags and an = ) - alliance - shows all the alliances your nation currently has. The numbers on the flags indicate how much time is left on the alliance. c. (man sitting in chair) - views the data of the ruler *** A quick note about character data Generals are rated in 4 catagories from A (masterful) to E (incapable): War - Affects how well the legions in a unit fight. Higher war also increases the effectiveness of training. Politics - Probably the most important category, it affects how many body points it takes to perform an action. A general with an A in politics is just as useful with 9 body points as a general with a C is with 15. Leadership - Affects the morale of your troops in battle. Charm - This affects how useful a guy is in diplomacy. The higher the better. I imagine it also affects how good a general is at giving food to the people, but I am less sure about this. There is also the stat of body points, which controls how many actions a general can do when he is either ruler or governor. The more body points, the more actions that can be taken in a particular season. As generals age, their body points slowly decline (you'll notice your ruler complaining about his back, or making some comment about how wonderful it would be to young again). This can be a serious problem if your ruler has a very bad politics stat, because he can lose points to the point of not being able to do almost any action, in which case your advisor will be running the country. (I've had the misfortune to have a general with E politics as my ruler who was down to 5 body points, a real problem). As body points continue to decline, a ruler has a much higher chance of passing away. There is also a picture in the info box: a very large crown indicates that this general is the ruler, a smaller blue hat indicates that this general is a governor, a scroll indicates that this general is an advisor, a sword indicates that this general is a regular officer, and a little plant indicates that this is a free general ready to be recruited. *** d. (a man frowning) - view generals who serve you but have no higher rank. A * indicates he is either your son in law or a brother, whereas a # indicates that this general is your son. e. (a man dressed in blue) - view your current advisor f. (a prince and a girl) - view your children who have been neither married or promoted to generals. A son who has not yet been promoted to general cannot succeed his father. g. (two soldiers) - view the soldiers that are currently stationed in this territory. h. (a present) - view all the specialty items your empire currently possesses. The specialty that is highlighted green is produced locally. 2. (a picture of a man) - view all generals - lists all your generals and all their abilities in a handy chart. A crown indicates that a general is your son, a ring indicates the general is either a son in law or a brother. 3. (a picture of a telescope) - view another territory - does just that. If you are viewing one of your own states, it does not cost anything; otherwise it uses one body point, regardless of your politics stat. 4. (a picture of a man and a house) - view merchants - shows the areas where the specific merchants are currently trading. A little picture of a treasure box denotes the state in which the merchant is based. These territories will always have their own particular merchant present. 5. (a picture of two flags and a hill) - view territories - lists all the states that are currently under your control, their current gold and food, the specialty they produce, and the amount of soldiers stationed there. Additionally, if someone related to you in some way is ruling the nation, either a ring or a crown will be next to the area's row in the table. The home province will be highlighted green. 6. (a picture of three pikes) - view troop types - lists all the troops and their abilities. From top to bottom, these are: short range attack damage, charge damage, long range attack damage, and defense. If a unit has no long range attack, it is represented by a star. A rating in red indicates that the attack has an increased chance of confusing the unit under attack. Spirit is the base morale of the unit before it is affected by a commander's leadership rating. The mobility rating is just that, how far the unit can move. For convenience, I have transcribed these values below: Type: Light Infantry Spirit: 50 Mobility: 6 Close Attack: B Charge Attack: D Projectile Attack : 0 Defense: D Comments: Super cheap, but not that powerful fighting. Great if you need a paper army to convince the computer not to attack you. Otherwise, pretty useless unless you are trying to overcome the enemy with numbers or using a quasi-exploit to win as quickly as possible (see section V). Type: Heavy Infantry Spirit: 60 Mobility: 6 Close Attack: B Charge Attack: D Projectile Attack : 0 Defense: C Comments: Better than light infantry, and still not expensive. Unless you are in China, Pikeman are a better deal. Type: Pikemen Spirit: 60 Mobility: 5 Close Attack: B Charge Attack: B Projectile Attack : 0 Defense: D Comments: Cheap, and I prefer these over heavy infantry. Type: Cannons Spirit: 30 Mobility: 5 Close Attack: D Charge Attack: E Projectile Attack : C + confusion Defense: E Comments: Complete crap. Unless you are letting the computer simulate every battle, don't even think about using these. Type: Short Bow Spirit: 60 Mobility: 6 Close Attack: C Charge Attack: E Projectile Attack : B Defense: D Comments: Pretty cheap, but also pretty useless if you don't keep your soldiers well armed. Good essentially in the same ways that light infantry are, either for simulated combat, victory by numbers, or as a paper army used to convince the computer not to attack you. Type: Long Bow Spirit: 60 Mobility: 6 Close Attack: E Charge Attack: E Projectile Attack : A Defense: D Comments: Better than crossbowmen. I'd rather use these guys than any other non mounted archery unit. Type: Crossbow Spirit: 50 Mobility: 6 Close Attack: D Charge Attack: E Projectile Attack : A Defense: E Comments: The close range bonus of D compared to longbow's E isn't worth the lowered defense. If you are using either of these unit types as skirmishers, you are either out of arrows or out of your mind. Type: Elephants Spirit: 60 Mobility: 5 Close Attack: B Charge Attack: B Projectile Attack : D Defense: A Comments: Good stats, but not that useful. They are also very expensive. Just about any mounted unit is better. Type: Catapults Spirit: 20 Mobility: 5 Close Attack: E Charge Attack: E Projectile Attack : A + confusion Defense: E Comments: Hmmm. Crap. That 20 rating for spirit isn't a typo. Definitely use longbowmen before these losers. Type: Nomads Spirit: 60 Mobility: 9 Close Attack: C Charge Attack: C Projectile Attack : C Defense: C Comments: Not bad. Fairly affordable and very versatile. I'd much rather an army of these guys to elephants. Type: Lancers Spirit: 60 Mobility: 8 Close Attack: B Charge Attack: B Projectile Attack : 0 Defense: C Comments: Well, they're better than almost any unit on foot, but that's about it. In most situations, you are better off with nomads. They're not a bad choice in China. Type: Mongols Spirit: 80 Mobility: 11 Close Attack: B Charge Attack: B Projectile Attack : B Defense: C Comments: Well, there is a reason this game is titled after a Mongol leader. These guys are pretty sweet, and they're worth what they cost. Type: (Horse) Archers Spirit: 70 Mobility: 10 Close Attack: C Charge Attack: C Projectile Attack : A Defense: D Comments: I don't really like these guys. They are pretty expensive, and not that much better than longbowmen. If you have the money though, the extra mobility is a big advantage. Type: Mamelukes Spirit: 70 Mobility: 8 Close Attack: B Charge Attack: B Projectile Attack : 0 Defense: B Comments: Lancers but better in just about every way. They will be your tanks if you are fighting in the middle east. Type: Knights Spirit: 70 Mobility: 7 Close Attack: C Charge Attack: A Projectile Attack : 0 Defense: B Comments: Costly, but still...ok. There isn't much else you can do if you are fighting in Europe and need powerful units and don't have merchants around to hire mercenaries. Type: Samurai Spirit: 80 Mobility: 8 Close Attack: A Charge Attack: C Projectile Attack : C Defense: C Comments: These are really my favorite units in the game. Very flexible, and not that expensive. Overall, they are probably a little weaker than Mongols, but they're still great. ************************************** IV. War Once a war breaks out, you'll come to the war screen, and, provided that your ruler is involved directly, you will have command of it. Once you reach the battle map you will be asked if you wish to deploy your units yourself. Generally, it is best to do this yourself unless you are very lazy, as it will help to streamline your coming advance (or defense). Note that inclement weather can effect your soldiers when invading an area that is experiencing a disaster, otherwise the weather (located in the upper right) only affects the mobility of your legions. There are several different commands you are then presented. A. Battlefield Commands I. Order (legion) - This command allows you to give specific orders to any legion under your authority. There are several specific policies: 1. Move - order the legion to move to a specified location 2. Chase - order the legion to chase a particular enemy legion 3. Attack - order a legion to focus on attacking the enemy (rather than supplying, moving, or ambushing). The legion's movement will remain delegated to the commander. 4. Ambush - order the legion to ambush in a specific area of the battlefield map. When a unit is ambushed, most, if not all, of its units begin the conflict in confused status. 5. Supply - order the legion to supply at a specified location. If you specify a forrest area, the legion will hunt. If you specify a town or city and are the attacking force, your legion will pillage the area for supplies. When defending you can still supply at these areas, but it is not called pillaging and won't effect the people's loyalty. Generally, you only need to do this if your legions are running very low on supplies. 6. Flee - order the legion to attempt to escape from the battlefield. After you select this command you'll have to choose the area from which to begin the escape. The numbers over the flag denote to which allied state the legion will be withdrawing. If the first legion retreats (or is killed in battle) the other units will automatically withdraw, but stand a chance of being captured. II. Reform - Order two legions that are adjacent to each other to swap units. III. Talk - Speak with another legion that is neighboring your 1st legion. If you are adjacent to the enemy's first legion, you will have the option to propose a truce or to demand surrender. Either way, if the enemy agrees, the battle will end. In the case of a truce, the attackers all withdraw with no chance of being captured and the state remains with the defender. In the case of a surrender, the enemy's ruler agrees to submit without additional resistance, and the attacker gains the territory. If your first legion is adjacent to another lower ranked legion, your ruler can ask its commander to betray his master and switch sides in the current battle. This rarely works, but is obviously very effective when it does. IV. Info - displays information about specifics in the battle. 1. Legion - Views information about particular legions. If you choose to view an enemy's legion(s) it will take 1 battle turn. It presents the following information: a. Commander of the legion and royal relations, if any. b. The level of the legion. From highest to lowest, the levels are elite, crack, veteran. The better the level of the legion, the more effective it is in battle. Higher training and morale will effect this value. c. Troops - the total amount of soldiers in this legion. d. Units - the units in this particular legion and how many troops are currently assigned to each. e. Mobility - the current mobility of the unit. The higher this value is, the farther the unit can move. Having the unit wait one turn causes this value to increase by one. d. Arms - the arms rating of this legion. The higher this value is, the more times a unit in the legion can attack using a distance weapon. e. Supply - How well this unit is supplied. If a legion runs out of supplies, troops will start to quickly desert. f. Morale - the morale of the unit. This effects how well the units fight in battle as well as their mobility. The unit selection plays a major role in this, as units with very low spirit values tend to also have lower morales. 2. Person - views the generals that are currently leading units in battle. If a general's body points reach 0, he will be cut down in fighting. 3. Field - views the names of the kingdoms involved in this battle and their commanders, as well as all the possible escape points. 4. Plan - views the current orders to all allied units. B. Inter-Legion Combat commands Once your legion enters into battle with another legion you will be taken to the unit combat screen. Here, many of the orders will take away from a units mobility points, so I will indicate the loss with a minus sign and the value after each command. The battle lasts until the turns (located in the upper right corner) reaches 0 or all the units of one side are destroyed. 1. Move - move the unit to a particular location. Each space your unit moves takes two mobility. 2. Attack - attack an enemy unit. a. Near (-3 mobility) - use a close range skirmish attack. This will inflict light damage to both units, unless the defending unit is confused in which case it will be much more effective. b. Far (-3 mobility) - use a long distance attack. This inflicts no damage at all upon the attacker, but requires a unit that is capable of using long range weapons and a stockpile of projectiles. c. Charge (-5 mobility) - order a charge against the adjacent unit. This inflicts more damage than a regular skirmish attack, and greatly increases the chances of confusing the enemy unit. On the other hand, however, if you are unsuccessful in causing confusion in your enemy, there is a high chance of becoming confused yourself. Charging against an opponent already in confused status is generally devastating. 3. Order - give particular orders to this unit. a. Lead (-4 mobility) - allow the legion's commander to personally take the front of this unit. The effectiveness of the unit will increase, but there is a risk of the commander becoming injured or even being killed in combat. b. Revive (-4 mobility) - attempt to revive a nearby allied unit that is in confused status. c. Delegate - delegates command of the entire legion to the computer. Once you agree to let the computer take control, you cannot regain control of the legion for the rest of this combat. 4. Info - views information on units and commanders. a. Unit - views the training, troops, morale, and arms of any unit currently in battle. If you are using it on an enemy unit, it costs 2 mobility. b. Person - views the stats of the commanders currently in this battle. Again, if you are viewing your enemy it costs 2 mobility. A war ends when all the legions of one side are defeated or withdraw, the first legion of either side is defeated or withdraws, one side agrees to either surrender/sign a truce, or the attackers occupy all the installations (cities, forts) in the area. In the case of anything besides a truce, the victorious side then has to decide what to do with the prisoners taken in the battle. Recruited officers immediately join your generals pool, although officers will never join you if that pool is already full (8 officers). Released officers return to their ruler, and those who are executed are removed immediately from the game. ***************************************************** V. Tips/Strategies 1. When simulating battles, the game highly favors the attackers and this is very easy to take advantage of while playing. You can easily conquer places extremely quickly by hiring a very large army of very cheap units and then sending them at the enemy led by lower officers, and skipping the entire war altogether. 99% of the time, the army with more units will win the battle, and with relatively few casualties. This method can allow you to conquer the entire world in very little time. On the other hand, it is very cheap and essentially an exploit, so keep that in mind. 2. Spend time with your family! Although it does not seem to offer very much in immediate benefits, spending time with your family is perhaps one of the most important ways to spend your time during your seasonal turn. You absolutely need to have a good amount of generals that you can trust, and really the only way to be assured of a follower's loyalty is to be related to him in some capacity. The only way to do this is to have a good enough relationship with your wife so that she continues to produce sons and daughters. You really cannot spend too much time visiting your family. 3. Choose your governors wisely. Governors are very likely to rebel in this game, especially when your ruler dies and has to be replaced. The best choices for governors are your sons or son in laws, as these people will remain loyal no matter what. Occasionally you wife will let you know a general who is particularly disloyal. Never, ever allow one of these clowns to become a governor, because he will assuredly betray you. Of course, you won't have enough relatives to govern the entire world, even if your wife is constantly popping out new children, so make sure to keep the amount of soldiers under the command of nonrelatives very low. This way, even if a governor rebels, he won't have enough soldiers at his disposal to cause any real problems. 4. Generally, it is best to do most of the conquering yourself. The computer tends to overextend itself very quickly, and the best way to prevent this is to keep such decisions out of your governors' hands. In order to prevent the computer from expanding, set their diplomatic policies to anything besides invade, and they will never attack. 5. Never stockpile specialty goods in hopes that your other areas will somehow utilize them, because they never will. Once you have conquered enough lands, your specialty goods will be produced so quickly that you will almost always have as much money as you could possibly need, so use this to build up large armies of the best units (mongols, samurais, etc) and arm them to the teeth. With an army of 20 maxed out mongols, you will practically never see defeat. 6. Make sure that you sell your goods to the proper merchant if possible. Generally, goods that are produced locally make much more money when sold to merchants who are traveling long distances. Silk sold to the venetian merchant, for example, yields a price somewhere around double the current market rate. 7. Don't be afraid to ask another state for tribute or to surrender, because it does succeed relatively often. 8. When picking a successor, the most important quality is, of course, politics, because this will determine how many commands the ruler can make per season. War is also important, because it is very annoying to train soldiers with someone who has an E in war. More Tips?? Email them to me and I will post them. ****************************************** VI. Credits Thanks to Koei for making this game. Thanks to Nicole Xhilone (pronounced X-ill-on) for reading my guides. ****************************************** VII. Legal This guide is copyright 2004 by Greg Hartman. The game is copyrighted by Koei. As of the time I am writing this, the only website that is allowed to post this guide is: http://gamefaqs.com If you are interested in posting this guide or any of my others on your website, send me an email and I will almost assuredly agree to allow you to do so provided you don't charge people in order to view it. It is illegal to post this guide without permission, and shame on you if you are considering it.