San Goku Shi 7 - Strategy Guide (Page 04)

Below are the cheat codes, hints and help for San Goku Shi 7 - Strategy Guide (Page 04).

- When planning to invade other cities, be sure to have a have an Officer 
ready to appoint as Prefect when you take over. Also be sure to have strong 
Officers available to station there in case the enemy decides to try to take 
back the city in the following months. Do not rely on Officers that have 
surrendered, as they will most likely defect shortly after your occupation.

- When facing a country with superior forces, make use of the Diplomacy-Envoy 
with the other countries nearby. The last thing you need is to be fighting 
each other while the mega kingdom crushes each of you one at a time. If 
possible try to arrange a joint attack with another country. If you're going 
up against impossible odds, you need all the help you can get.

- Keep an adequate garrison force in border cities when you invade an enemy 
city. If you use too much Officers from your base city in the attack, you are 
almost guaranteed a counter attack against that city when your forces are 
away.

- Lieges get all the Items from Officers that are captured in battle. Don't 
be a treasure hoarder and keep all of them to yourself. Give excess Items to 
your Prefects or Officers that have considerable skill. Doing so increases 
not only their abilities, but also their loyalty.

- Unless an Officer's LOY is 90+, there is always a chance that they will 
defect to another Liege. If you want to ensure that Officers are loyal, make 
sure their Bond with you is at 100 before you try to recruit them. Ronins are 
much easier to recruit than Officers so start bonding with them early when 
you find one with great talent.

- Remember that Lieges can no longer use the Explore command to search for 
hidden Ronin.

- Lieges can only move Officers to other cities if they are present in their 
current city. Use the Summon command to move an Officer to your city, and 
then use the Move command on the next turn.

- Executing problematic enemy Officers may save you a lot of grief down the 
road, but it will definitely affect your ending in a negative way if you are 
constantly executing people.

- Hold Poetry contests or Tournaments whenever possible.

----------------------
XII. Military Strategy
----------------------

"This Guan Yu lacks neither cunning nor valor. You are to be most cautious in 
engaging him. If you can conquer, then conquer; but if there be any doubt, 
remain on the defensive."
                                       - Cao Cao to Pang De

-----------------
Offensive Battles
-----------------

A Prefect, Warlord, or Liege can give an order to march on a nearby city to 
attempt to occupy it in an offensive attack. An attack force is made up of 
three parts: Commanding Officer, Tactician, and Officers.

Commanding Officer (CO)

This is the Officer who has ordered the march. The CO is responsible for 
assigning the type of arms to be used by each unit in the attack. If the CO 
is the Liege himself and is defeated or retreats, the battle immediately 
ends. The CO should have high WAR and INT values, as they will be leading the 
offensive and therefore be taking the brunt of the enemy's attacks. If you 
are the CO, you will control all the units in the battle yourself unless you 
use the Auto command, in which you can choose to have units controlled 
automatically. I would highly recommend manually controlling your units if 
the battle is an important one. The CO is the one who approves the Strategy 
of the Tactician and his selection of Ploys. If the CO disagrees with the 
Tactician he can make changes to them. If the Tactician is not available 
certain Ploys cannot be used during sieges.

Tactician (TA)

The TA is responsible for determining the strategy to be used in the battle. 
There are four types of strategy: Penetrate, Flank Left, Flank Right, and 
Surround. The effectiveness of each strategy is dependent on the number of 
troops in the battle and the geography of the battlefield. 

- Penetrate: Attempt to occupy all enemy outposts en route towards the enemy 
HQ. Morale effect: +/- 40
- Flank Left: Attempt to occupy all enemy outposts to the left en route to 
the enemy HQ. Morale effect: +/- 60
- Flank Right: Attempt to occupy all enemy outposts to the right en route to 
the enemy HQ. Morale effect: +/- 60
- Surround: Attempt to occupy all enemy outposts surrounding the enemy HQ.
Morale effect: +/- 80

For each strategy (other than surround) occupying the enemy HQ after 
completing the other objectives will result in an increase of your army's 
morale and a decrease in the enemy's morale. The exact gain/loss depends on 
the Strategy completed. If the strategy is not completed in a certain amount 
of days (indicated by Strategy on screen), the effects are reduced. If you're 
having trouble remember which outposts you're supposed to occupy, they are 
indicated with a gold mark on the flags. Note that you can complete a 
strategy other than the one planned if you occupy the relevant outposts 
during the battle.

The TA is also responsible for the use of Ploys during the battle. The TA 
before the battle selects the Ploys that he will use. The TA will brief the 
army on the reconnaissance gathered on the enemy. If the TA has a high enough 
INT, the enemy army's CO and TA will be revealed, as will any possible 
reinforcements they may have. The number of traps on the field may also be 
revealed. If the TA is really good, the Strategy of the enemy army may be 
revealed. The TA should have a high INT value, as this will increase the 
amount of information gathered on the enemy as well as increasing the 
effectiveness of Ploys. If you are the TA, you will be responsible for 
determining the strategy for the battle, as well as the selection of Ploys to 
be used.

My personal recommendations for the TA are as follows:

- If you have only a few units and no reinforcements, Penetrate is usually 
the best option. Trying to maneuver around or surround the enemy will only 
thin your forces out making them easy targets for attacks.

- If you have a large number of units and no reinforcements, Surround can be 
more effective since you can hit the enemy from all sides. If the enemy is 
large and/or expecting reinforcements, Penetrate may be a better option.

- If the enemy is defending a central area with limited approaches (such as a 
mountain pass), a Flank strategy may be in order, as sending all your troops 
through the center will only end up stalling your advance.

- If you have a large number of units and a large number of reinforcements, 
and the reinforcements are arriving to the side of the enemy HQ, try to Flank 
in their direction so you can meet up with them in a coordinated attack 
against the enemy.

- If you are expecting reinforcements, always choose at least one Rush Ploy, 
and use it as soon as the battle begins. Having your backup arrive one turn 
sooner can make or break an attack. If your reinforcements are 4 or more days 
away, or if you really need those reinforcements, having 2 or more Rush Ploys 
is a good idea in case the first one fails. The only exception to this rule 
is if the reinforcements are pitifully small, in which case having them come 
on the first turn isn't going to do much except buy you some time. If the 
reinforcements are large and coming from behind the enemy, you might want to 
wait for them to arrive so that you can trap the enemy in a pincer movement.

- The most powerful Ploy in the game is Rumor. If your TA has an INT of 100 
or higher, you can sometimes win battles without even fighting by making the 
Commanding Officer retreat (Sun Tzu would be proud!). Sometimes you can end 
the battle in the first round! If your TA has high INT I would wholeheartedly 
recommend choosing one Rush (if you have reinforcements coming) and spending 
all your remaining SP on Rumor. Rumor doesn't work all the time, but when it 
does it can certainly make your life easier, if not turn the entire tide of 
battle around. Even if a unit resists Rumor the first time, they may be 
affected on another try. Most of the strongest Officers in the game (WAR 90+) 
have low INT scores, making them very vulnerable to this Ploy. Just remember 
that the enemy TA can use this Ploy as well. You will cackle with glee when 
you send your enemies scurrying away, but will curse their name when they do 
the same to you. Be aware though that units driven away by rumor can still 
defend the city during a siege. Then again it may be much easier to destroy 
the city's walls than to destroy each enemy unit one at a time.

Officers

The Officers compose the main offensive force. Their duty is to carry out the 
strategy assigned by the TA. The Officers should have high WAR values, but 
high INT values will prove just as valuable as this will increase their 
resistance to enemy Ploys and Tactics. The most valuable skills for Officers 
in battle are Charge, Valor, and Reversal. If you are an Officer, your main 
duty is to carry out the strategy assigned by the TA, and backup your fellow 
Officers by joining your attacks or supporting them with Tactics. Up to ten 
Officers can be assigned to an attack force.

--------------------
Preparing for Attack
--------------------

It may be a good idea to use the Spy command on the target city in advance to 
see how many officers are present, the arms used by their units, the number 
of troops stationed there, and the strength of their defensive wall. If 
you're outnumbered 2 to 1 you may want to increase the number of officers in 
the attack. If they have heavy units such as Horses and Calvary and you have 
Foot, it would be wise to forge better arms if at all possible. If their 
Defense is high, you might consider trying to use the Destroy Plot a few 
times. Planting a Mole in their army or attempting to get an Officer to 
defect in battle are also some possible options.

-------------
Plot Commands
-------------

Plot-Spy (50 AP if commanding, 10 AP if acting)
--------
Who can use: Prefect, Warlord, Liege
Like the Personal-Spy command, this allows you to obtain information on a 
city and the Officers stationed there. Effectiveness is based on the acting 
Officer's INT and Trust. If the Officer has the Spy skill, information on 
adjacent cities may be obtained.

Plot-Defection (50 AP if commanding, 10 AP if acting)
--------------
Who can use: Officer, Prefect, Warlord, Liege
Note: Officers can only do this by themselves.
This allows you to convince an enemy Officer to defect to your side. If 
successful, the Officer will defect to your side during a battle if you 
attack their city within 6 months. Otherwise this effect is cancelled. The 
chance of success increases if the acting Officer's INT is high, and the 
target Officer's LOY is low and Bond is high. The Tactics-Defect command must 
be used on the target Officer in battle.

Plot-Rumor (50 AP if commanding, 10 AP if acting)
----------
Who can use: Officer, Prefect, Warlord, Liege
Note: Officers can only do this by themselves.
This allows you to spread a rumor in the target city, reducing its Safety 
level. The LOY of the officers in the city may drop as well. The chance of 
success increases if the acting Officer's INT and Trust of the target city 
are high, and the Safety of the target city is low. Enemy Officers are 
effected depending on their INT.

Plot-Mole (50 AP if commanding, 10 AP if acting)
---------
Who can use: Officer, Prefect, Warlord, Liege
Note: Officers can only do this by themselves.
This allows you to send a mole to infiltrate an enemy Officer's unit. If 
successful, the Officer's unit can be confused during battle. The battle must 
occur within 6 months or the mole will return. The chance of success 
increases if the acting Officer's INT is high and the target Officer's INT is 
low. The Tactics-Mole command must be used on the target Officer in battle.

Plot-Destroy (50 AP if commanding, 10 AP if acting)
------------
Who can use: Officer, Prefect, Warlord, Liege
Note: Officers can only do this by themselves.
This allows you to destroy the wall of an enemy city reducing its Defense. 
The chance of success increases if the acting Officer's INT and Trust of the 
target city is high, and the city's Safety is low.

If the enemy is really strong, you may want to request a joint attack with a 
neighboring country.

Diplomacy-Joint (50 AP if commanding, 10 AP if acting)
---------------
Who can use: Prefect, Warlord, Liege
This allows you to propose a joint attack on a city with a nearby allied 
country. If successful, the allied country will send reinforcements when you 
attack that city. 1000+ Gold is required as a gift. The chance of success 
increases if the envoy's POL is high, the relations between the two countries 
are high, the Bond between the Liege and envoy are high, and the more Gold 
offered. If the target country is allied to the allied country, they will 
refuse the proposal.

Before you attack make sure your unit's troop numbers are at maximum, their 
Drill levels are at maximum, and you have the best arms available. If another 
one of your cities is adjacent to the target city, you may request that 
reinforcements be sent from there. Cities with offensive policies make the 
best staging grounds for offensive attacks so keep that in mind. When 
deciding on a Tactician to bring along, make sure they have the highest INT 
available. You can march on a city without a Tactician, but you won't be able 
to use strategies or Ploys in the battle without one. Also the route taken to 
the target city will affect your initial army morale, so be sure to take that 
into consideration. Marching long distances over rough terrain will have an 
adverse effect on your army.

-----------------
Defensive Battles
-----------------

When your city is attacked, you will automatically begin a defensive battle. 
Defensive battles are similar to offensive battles. Before the battle begins 
the Tactician will determine the strategy to be used for the battle. The 
possible strategies are Field, Ambush, and Siege.

- Field: The defensive army will meet the attacking army on the field in 
battle.
- Ambush: The defensive army will attempt to set up an ambush for the 
attacking army. This strategy has a very low chance of success. If 
successful, the attacking army will become surrounded by your units and 
confused. If unsuccessful, the opposite will occur. Regardless of success, 
this will cancel the attacking army's strategy. Ambush has a higher chance of 
succeeding if the weather conditions are bad.
- Siege: The defensive army will stay in the city and prepare a defense 
against a siege.

Field is usually the best option in most cases. Deploying units automatically 
is usually the best choice as you will want your Troops close together where 
they can support each other, as opposed to being spread out all over the map 
and getting picked off one by one.

If you're short on units and troops, Siege is usually better option than 
Ambush. Ambushes are wonderful if you can get them to work, but you are 
usually guaranteed to lose if they don't, unless you have a large and 
powerful army in which case you should have chosen Field instead. I've only 
attempted Ambush twice and failed both times, which was more than enough to 
convince me never to use them again. If your Tactician should by any chance 
recommend Ambush, slap him on the head and choose either Field or Siege 
instead. It's wonderful when the enemy tries to do it, since it usually fails 
and you can attack them from all sides. If the enemy tries an ambush, it 
cancels your own strategy, so forget about occupying outposts and go for the 
enemy instead. Ambushes have a higher chance of succeeding if the weather is 
bad (i.e. Rain, Storm, or Snow conditions), but the chances of success are 
still dismally low. If you select Siege you choose to wait for the enemy in 
your castle. This is good if your city's Defense is high, but if they have a 
large army it may only delay the inevitable.

-----
Traps
-----

The Tactician is once again responsible for choosing Ploys, but also has the 
option of setting Traps on the battlefield as well. You can set as many Traps 
on the field as you have Strategy Points (SP), but remember that the more 
Traps you set, the less Ploys you can use in the battle. Enemy units can only 
trigger traps.

- Fire Trap (15 SP): When stepped on this trap ignites fire in the target 
square and all adjacent squares, dealing damage to the enemy. If fire touches 
another fire trap it will ignite causing a chain reaction. Can only be set on 
plain, forest, mountain, and bridge terrain.

- Water Trap (20 SP): When sailed on this trap causes a whirlpool to appear, 
damaging enemy units in that square. Can only be set on water terrain.

- Rockslide Trap (20 SP): When stepped on this trap causes a rockslide to 
fall, damaging enemy units in the target square. Can only be used on mountain 
terrain.

- Pit Trap (15 SP): When stepped on this trap opens up a pit, damaging enemy 
units in the target square and all adjacent squares. Can only be used on 
plain, flat, or road terrain.

- Poison Trap (15 SP): When stepped on this trap releases poison, damaging 
enemy units in the target square and all adjacent squares. Can only be used 
in marsh and bank terrain. If the poison trap hits another poison trap it 
will go off causing a chain reaction.

Traps can be detected if the enemy uses the Probe Tactic while moving, but 
there is still a chance a trap will go off unless they also have the Scout 
skill. Using traps can be fun, but I personally would prefer to spend my SP 
on Ploys. As for Ploy selection, once again I recommend at least one Rush (if 
reinforcements are coming) and as much Rumors as you can afford. Rumor is as 
effective in defensive battles as it is in offensive ones, even more so since 
you don't have to go through a siege after the field battle once you win.

--------------------
XIII. The Art of War
--------------------

"I have written a book in twenty-four chapters, 104,112 words, treating the 
Eight Needfuls, the Seven Cautions, the Six Fears, and the Five Dreads of 
war."
                                       - Zhuge Liang to Jiang Wei

At the start of field battles each force will be positioned according to the 
Tactician's strategy. The attacking army's units are colored red, while the 
defending army's units are colored blue. The order in which units act each 
turn is dependent on the type of unit and their leading Officer's INT. Each 
unit has a Drill value, Movement Points (MP), Tactic Points (TP), and Troops. 
MP is determined by the unit's Drill and type. TP is determined by the 
Officer's Rank. The attacking force's initial morale depends on the type of 
route that was taken to the target city. The default is usually 80, but rough 
terrain can drop morale to as low as 50. The defending force's initial morale 
is always 100. The time allotted for a battle (both field and siege) is 30 
days. If time runs out for the attacking side, the defenders automatically 
win.

----------------
Wind and Weather
----------------

In the upper right hand corner of the screen is an indicator of the current 
weather conditions and wind direction. The weather affects which Tactics or 
Ploys can be used, as well as the sight range of units on the field. The wind 
direction determines in which direction fire attacks can be used and the 
direction fire will spread. The following are the types of weather in the 
field. The weather can be changed using the Weather Ploy. Note that the 
ambush strategy has a better chance of succeeding in Rain, Storm or Snow 
conditions.

Clear - All units have their normal sight range.
Cloudy - Visibility is reduced.
Rainy - Fire attacks cannot be used. Poor visibility.
Storm - Fire attacks cannot be used. Very poor visibility.
Snow - Fire attacks cannot be used. Almost no visibility. Movement reduced.

-------
Terrain
-------

There are nine possible terrain types on the battlefield. Each terrain 
determines the movement rate of units passing through it as well as the 
possible types of traps that can be used.

Bridge/Flat/Road - Easy terrain to move in. Fire Traps are possible. Pit 
traps are possible only on flat terrain.
Grassland - Easy terrain to move in. Fire and Pit Traps are possible.
Forest - Somewhat difficult terrain to move in. Ambush Tactic is possible. 
Fire Trap is possible.
Lake/River - Difficult terrain to move in unless Officer has Ship. Water 
traps are possible. Units attacked take heavy damage unless Officer has Navy 
skill.
Mountains - Difficult terrain to move in. Ambush Tactic is possible. Fire and 
Rockslide traps are possible. Horse and Calvary units have low 
maneuverability. 
Ocean - Difficult terrain to move in unless Officer has Barge. Units attacked 
take heavy damage unless Officer has Navy skill.
Plains - Easy terrain to move in. Pit Traps are possible.
Shallow - Difficult terrain to move in unless Officer has Ship. Units 
attacked take heavy damage unless Officer has Navy skill.
Swamp - Difficult terrain to move in. Poison Traps are possible.

---------------------
Conditions of Victory
---------------------

The attacking army wins if they destroy all of the defender's non-
reinforcement units, reduces their morale to 0, or captures the enemy's 
Liege. If there are any other defenders left for the city, the battle will 
proceed to a siege battle. Note that if the enemy Liege is captured the city 
is automatically captured as well. The defending army wins if they destroy 
all of the attacker's non-reinforcement units, reduces their morale to 0, if 
the time allotted for the battle expires, or if they capture or cause the 
enemy Liege to retreat.

-------------
Move Commands
-------------

The following movement commands are available during a unit's turn.

Move-Normal: Moves the unit to another position. Movement range depends on 
unit type and Movement Points (MP).

Move-Probe (10 TP): Same as normal movement, but if a Trap is discovered it 
will be disarmed instead of going off. The chances of this happening is 
dependent on the Officer's INT. If the Officer has the Scout skill traps are 
disarmed 100% of the time using this. If this is used no other Tactics can be 
used for the remainder of the turn. 

Move-Dash (10 TP): Requires Dash skill. Increases the unit's MP allowing for 
extended movement for that turn. Reduces unit's Troop level. If this is used 
no other Tactics can be used for the remainder of the turn.

Wait: The unit ends its turn. If no other command was given to the unit this 
turn, MP increases by 1. Maximum MP is 15.

For most cases normal movement will suffice, as traps don't do too much 
serious damage, and the odds are low that you will run into one on the field. 
Traps will, however, end your unit's entire movement. Also if you run into an 
enemy unit outside your field of view while moving, your movement will end 
and the enemy unit can make a free attack without retaliation. Dash is a 
wonderful skill to have, as it increases your movement range tremendously. It 
can allow you to occupy an enemy structure or attack an enemy unit several 
turns before you could normally do so. It is also very useful if one of your 
allies is surrounded and needs your help immediately. The loss of troops is 
usually minor at best, but you don't want to abuse Dash or you will find your 
unit's strength seriously diminished by the time you encounter the enemy. 
Learn to use Dash effectively for the situation and you will be rewarded 
handsomely for your efforts.

---------------
Attack Commands
---------------

After movement or at the start of your turn you can attack an enemy unit 
within range.

Attack-Direct: Attacks an enemy adjacent to you. Damage is dependent on the 
attacker's unit type, Drill of the attacker, number of Troops in the 
attacking unit, and the type of the target unit. If a non-confused unit is 
adjacent to the target, the attack becomes stronger for each unit surrounding 
the target. If the target has the Valor skill the attack strength will be 
normal. The target gets a retaliatory attack.

Attack-Arrow: Requires Bow or Crossbow. Attacks an enemy with an arrow 
attack. Range is dependent on the arms. Bows can attack adjacent squares. 
Crossbows can attack two squares in a cardinal direction, or a diagonal 
square. Arrow attacks cannot be retaliated against unless an Officer has a 
Bow or Crossbow and the Counter skill. Surround cannot be used with an arrow 
attack.

Attack-Missile: Requires Missile skill. Attacks the enemy with a fire arrow. 
Fire arrows are stronger than regular arrow attacks, and may set fire to the 
target square. Missile can only be used on clear or cloudy days. Missile 
attacks can only be retaliated against if the target has the Counter skill. 
Surround cannot be use with a missile attack. Range is same as arrow.

Attack-Volley: Requires the Volley skill. Attacks the enemy and all units 
adjacent to them will an arrow attack. Friendly units in range will be hit 
with the attack. Friendly units will not retaliate. If the attacking unit is 
in range it will not be hit. Volley attacks can only be retaliated against if 
the target has the Counter skill. Surround cannot be used with a volley 
attack. Range is same as arrow. If a unit is not in your field of view it 
will not be hit.

Attack-Charge: Requires the Charge skill. Attacks the enemy with a charge 
attack. The charge attack may hit multiple times. The target is allowed a 
retaliatory attack after each hit. Sometimes the target will be driven back 
one square and the attacker will occupy the target's original position. If 
the target is destroyed, the attacker will occupy the target's original 
position. Surround can be used.

Attack-Duel: Challenges a unit's officer to a duel. The winner of the duel 
captures the other officer and their unit is scattered.

Note that if an Officer is defeated by a Direct or Charge attack, and does 
not have a Steed, he will be captured as a prisoner of war. If an Arrow, 
Missile, or Volley attack defeats an Officer, they will retreat instead.

-------------
Attack Advice
-------------

When attacking the enemy try using the following guidelines:

- Remember that moving adjacent to an enemy unit instantly ends your movement 
for that turn. This may block your approach to certain enemies on the field. 
The exception to this is if the enemy unit is confused, in which case you can 
sneak on by.

- Always attempt to surround the enemy if possible. Even if the enemy Officer 
has the Valor skill, it is best to try and eliminate them as soon as 
possible. Attack units that have the most units surrounding them. If an 
Officer with a high Bond participates in a surround attack, the attack will 
be more effective. Note that if an Officer with the Valor skill is confused, 
a surround attack can be used against him.

- Attack units that have the least amount of troops before teaming up against 
the larger units. Even small units can contribute to surround attacks. Not to 
mention they can still use Tactics. Eliminating weak units also reduces enemy 
morale faster. 

- If you can use arrow attacks do so. Missile attacks are even better. Volley 
attacks are the best, but try not to hit your allies with them unless the 
trade off is well worth it. Some Officers are notorious for hitting their own 
allies with Volley attacks (Huang Zhong *cough*). The only situations in 
which hitting your own Officers is permissible is if you can hit many more 
enemy units in return, or if you desperately need to hit a unit that is out 
of your normal range (using your own unit to extend the range).

- Try not to block off your allies and leave as much room around the enemy so 
that they can be surrounded. This goes doubly if you're a Crossbow unit.

- Use Charge attacks as much as possible, but be aware that doing so may push 
the enemy away from being surrounded. Sometimes using a normal attack is a 
better option. If the target has another unit behind it then it will stay in 
place. Charge can also knock units out of outposts.

- Although Charge attacks are useful, keep in mind that the enemy can counter 
attack after each charge. If you're doing a miniscule amount of damage to the 
enemy, and the enemy is doing severe damage to you, it may be a good idea not 
to use Charge attacks. 

- Challenging an Officer to a duel has a very low chance of success. Units 
that are confused or have low INT are more susceptible. 

- Eliminating the defending Liege ends a field battle for the attacking army, 
so if you are losing the battle try to use all your efforts to taking him 
out. While eliminating a Liege will also end the battle for the defending 
side.

- Each enemy unit you eliminate reduces the morale of the enemy army by 3%. 
Eliminating the enemy Tactician reduces enemy morale by 10%, while 
eliminating the enemy Commanding Officer reduces enemy morale by 15%. The 
same effects apply to your own army so be careful.

- The Commanding Officer is always located at the outpost furthest and 
directly opposite your starting position. The Tactician is usually, but not 
always, in front of the Commanding Officer. Eliminating the Tactician 
prevents the enemy from using Tactics for the remainder of the battle, 
including sieges.

- Officers that do not have the Navy skill are vulnerable to attacks while on 
water.

- The amount of damage a unit does decreases as their Troop level decreases. 
Even a powerful Officer will not do much damage when his unit is down to a 
thousand soldiers. The same thing applies to your forces as well so be 
careful.

--------
Outposts
--------

Outposts provide a field of view for the defending army. If a unit on the 
attacking army occupies an outpost you will lose this field of view.

If you start your turn or end your move on an enemy outpost and are on the 
offensive side, you can choose to occupy it. You cannot occupy and attack in 
the same turn.

Occupy: This weakens the defense of an enemy outpost. If the outpost's 
defense is reduced 0 the enemy's morale is decreased. If all the outposts in 
the Tactician's strategy are occupied, the morale of the defensive army will 
drop drastically, while the morale of the attacking army will increase. 
Occupying outposts that are not in the strategy plan has no effect.

If a unit ends their turn on an outpost that they control, their Troop number 
will increase by 500 at the start of the next turn if their Troop level is at 
less than maximum strength. This is helpful when you need to defend an 
outpost and are surrounded on all sides, or if your unit is seriously 
depleted after a battle and you need some serious reinforcements.

If you are on the defending army and end your turn on an outpost taken over 
by the enemy, you will cut off their supply line and at the start of the next 
turn the attacking army's morale will drop by 5. This effect is cumulative 
for multiple outposts. 

If you are on the offensive it is in your best interest to occupy all the 
outposts in your strategy. If you are on the defensive, cutting off supply 
lines won't make much of a difference unless the battle is dragging on and/or 
the morale of the enemy is low to begin with. Note that the enemy will often 
send one unit alone to occupy your initial starting base while you are busy 
attacking theirs. It won't make much of a difference if you're already 
winning by a landslide, but in close battles it can often be your downfall 
more often than not. It can be even worse if the unit is part of the enemy's 
main force as you will have to backtrack all the way back to the starting 
point in order to eliminate it, losing precious time and morale while doing 
so.

-------
Tactics
-------

"If he ran away at a yell of mine, think you he will dare return?"
                                       - Zhang Fei to Liu Bei

Instead of an attack during his turn, an Officer may use a Tactic instead. 
Officers can only use Tactics as long as they have TP available and the unit 
is in their range. The success of Tactics increases if the Officer's INT is 
high and the target Officer's INT is low. Here are the Tactics available and 
my personal observations of them.

*     - Useless Tactic. Not even enough to boil a pot of water.
**    - Situational Tactic. Now we have to wait for the fire to spread.
***   - Useful Tactic. This is how you set a fire.
****  - Great Tactic. Burn! Burn!
***** - Excellent Tactic. Learn from the master.

Tactics-Fire (10 AP) (**)
------------
If successful, this starts a fire in the target square. Units on fire lose 
troops and sometimes Officers and injured. Fires cannot be used in storm 
weather. If the wind is blowing fires can only be started in that direction. 
Fire will spread in the direction of the wind. Fires cannot be started on 
water but naval units can be burned. This Tactic can be turned back on the 
unit with the Reversal skill.

Comments: Burn Chi Bi! Burn! Oops. Wrong game. It's quite amusing how so many 
Officers in the game are pyromaniacs. Some of their responses are quite 
humorous as well. As for myself, trying to set someone on fire is nowhere 
near as useful as a normal attack. The one exception is when you're fighting 
Teng Jia units. Teng Jia units are very susceptible to fire.

Tactics-Confuse (10 AP) (***)
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If successful, this confuses the target unit, making them unable to act for 
the turn. Sometimes units will be come confused when surrounded or receiving 
heavy damage. This Tactic can be turned back on the unit with the Reversal 
skill.

Comments: This can be a great Tactic if it works. If you're within Tactic 
range and can't attack the enemy directly, using this may be well worth it, 
especially on the larger units. Just be careful that the Officer doesn't have 
Reversal or you'll be the one with egg on your face. Officers frequently use 
this Tactic.

Tactics-Mislead (20 AP) (**)
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If successful, the target unit will attack one of their own units adjacent to 
it. Both units must be in your field of view.

Comments: This is funny if it works, but you're better off using a normal 
attack. If they're out of attack range but in Tactic range, go ahead and 
knock yourself out (or knock themselves out). Works great if one unit is much 
stronger than the other.

Tactics-Stop (10 AP) (**)
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If successful, the target unit loses all MP and becomes unable to move. This 
Tactic can be turned back on the unit with the Reversal skill.

Comments: This is only useful if the enemy is running away from the battle 
and you're feeling bloodthirsty. Otherwise Confuse is a better option.

Tactics-Taunt (10 AP) (**)
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If successful, the target unit will become enraged and will chase after and 
attack the unit. This Tactic can be turned back on the unit with the Reversal 
skill.

Comments: Officers love to use this one a lot. The best uses are for getting 
an Officer to leave an outpost or getting enemy units away from surrounded 
officers. Sometimes Officers simply use this to talk smack to other enemy 
Officers. =) If you're really clever you can use it to draw units into traps 
or even ambushes. Personally I don't use this one, but I'm sure you can find 
some good uses for it.

Tactics-Douse (5 AP) (**)
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If successful, this puts out fires in the target square and the adjacent 
squares.

Comments: When your Officers are on fire, that doesn't mean it's in a good 
way. It's good to use if you're not in a position to attack and want to help 
out your allies. I personally enjoy watching them burn. >=)

Tactics-Hide (20 AP) (**)
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If successful, this hides the unit from view. This can only be done in forest 
or mountain terrain. If the enemy is nearby this will fail. If an enemy 
encounters the hidden unit while moving, the hidden unit will spring an 
ambush on them.

Comments: Some Officers use this, and then go and running head first into the 
enemy. =( I don't use this myself, but if you're going to use this make sure 
you don't move into areas that are out of your view. Otherwise if you run 
into the enemy the effect will be wasted.

Tactics-Defect (0 AP) (***)
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Requires Plot-Defection for the target enemy Officer. If the unit has agreed 
to defect previously, it will defect to your side in battle when this Tactic 
is used on them.

Comments: I haven't used this one, but if you're planning to take over a 
heavily guarded city this could be very useful.

Tactics-Mole (0 AP) (**)
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Requires Plot-Mole for the target enemy Officer. If the mole is still in 
place, the Officer will become confused when this Tactic is used on them.

Comments: I haven't used this one either, but it certainly sounds fun. =)

Tactics-Aid (10 AP) (****)
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Requires Aid skill. If successful, removes the Confuse, Stop, and Taunt 
conditions from the target unit.

Comments: This is great to use if one of your Officers is seriously confused. 
I've seen some units confused for several turns in a row, so this Tactic can 
be a real lifesaver. Note that you can use this Tactic on yourself, making it 
very handy indeed.

Tactics-Repair (20 AP) (**)
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Requires Repair skill. This increases the city's Defense during a siege. 
Defense cannot be increased above the city's maximum defense.

Comments: I've never used this one. Either the city's Defense is high enough 
to withstand the siege, or it's low enough that having this skill won't make 
much of a difference. I suppose that if you had just a few days remaining and 
had to hold out just a little longer this could be useful.

Tactics-Heal (30 AP) (*****)
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Requires Doctor skill. Restores injured troops in the target unit to full 
health. Sometimes the Officer is restored to full health as well.