(Last updated 1/6/03) ========== Introduction (XXX -- or parts thereof) ========== This guide is written primarily from the point of view of someone playing the game on the Hard difficulty level. Some observations about other levels are made here and there, but they have not been made in as thorough a fashion. Most of the strategies presented still apply to lower difficulties, and in most cases will be easier to execute, since the enemy troops have, in general, less morale (which is in most cases a good thing). How to read the Unit listings: Each battle lists the units appearing on each side, as a name followed by a morale level. There are three separate morale listings for the "enemy" units -- these are the levels on Easy, Normal, and Hard, respectively. A listing such as "***-" is to be taken to mean that sometimes the unit begins the battle with three stars of morale, and sometimes with four (at random). Units listed in [brackets] are not on the map at the beginning of the battle, but appear later. ========== The Yellow Turban Rebellion A.D. 184 Han Forces vs. Yellow Turbans ========== ---------- Background ---------- In the book: The Yellow Turbans' (Yellow Scarves in Moss Roberts' translation) rebellion is one of the first events described. While reading a recruitment notice, Liu Bei meets Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and it is for the purpose of defeating the Turbans and preserving the Han Dynasty that they swear their oath of brotherhood. Liu Bei (with the other two as his officers) lead a small force against the Turbans, riding to the aid of Lu Zhi. Their successes in this campaign earn Liu Bei recognition. Cao Cao, at this point little more than an ambitious commander with some connections, leads a larger force against Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, destroying their fleeing armies. Sun Jian also earns recognition for leading a force against Zhao Hong, one of the minor Turban leaders. Zhang Bao, in the course of the fight against the Imperials, does summon an apparition that stalls the Imperial advance temporarily. It is also mentioned that Zhang Liang and Zhang Jiao use magic, though their uses are not made explicit. The campaign against the Turbans in the book spans multiple smaller battles; the three Zhangs were not fought all at once, and Yellow Turbans still stirred up trouble long after the defeat of Zhang Jiao. The principal part of the campaign that this battle is based on occurs in chapters 1 and 2. In DW2: This battle is greatly changed from its incarnation in Dynasty Warriors 2, though most of the participants are the same. Rather than the Imperial forces attacking a Yellow Turban compound, the Imperials are besieged in a castle, subject to attack from all sides. This increases the number of different things that can happen; while in DW2 the battle went essentially the same way every time (open outer gates, sweep across central area, slog up mountain through Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, finish off Zhang Jiao), in DW3 minor variations in morale and player actions can lead to radically different courses run by the battle. In DW3: The Yellow Turban Rebellion is a fun battle. It is one of the battles where it is possible to resoundingly crush the enemy, even on Hard, and it provides one of the few opportunities to fight alongside and root for warriors from one of the other kingdoms. In addition it is well-designed, using several different events to good effect. While the enemy troops are never particularly difficult, the events attempt to level the playing field a bit, so that the faster you rip through the Yellow Turban army, the faster they counterattack. The course of the battle is also affected a bit by which kingdom you're fighting for, which increases the replay value of the battle by a fair margin. ---------- Han side ---------- ----- Units: He Jin (***) Zhang Jiao (***/***-/****-) Huangfu Song (***) Zhang Liang (***/***-/****-) Zhu Jun (***) Zhang Bao (***/***-/****-) Lu Zhi (***) Pei Yuan Shao (**/**-/***-) Liu Bei (****) Guan Hai (**/**-/***-) Sun Jian (****) He Yi (**/**-/***-) Cao Cao (****) Yan Zheng (**/**-/***-) [Zhang Man Cheng] (***/***-/****-) (Note that Zhang Man Cheng always gets a two-star morale boost, on top of the listed value, as soon as he appears) ----- The Imperials have taken position inside the castle in the center of the map. He Jin himself sits inside a small L-shaped compound in the upper center area of the castle. The only entrance to this compound is to the left, not far from the west gate. Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun, and Huangfu Song are deployed around the larger inside of the castle: Lu Zhi has the area behind the East Gate, backing up Liu Bei; Zhu Jun covers the southern castle, behind Cao Cao; and Huangfu Song backs up Sun Jian in the West. Liu Bei begins just south of the east gate of the castle. He has a resupply gate at the northeast corner of the map, guarded by Liu Yan (under He Jin). Cao Cao guards the south gate of the castle, and he has a resupply gate in the southeast corner of the map. Sun Jian guards the west gate of the castle; his gate is in the southwest, guarded by Zhang Chao (also under He Jin). Access to the north of the castle is limited by the river running just south of the top of the map, with a branch cutting through the castle walls in two places. Zhang Bao has set up on a hill just outside the east gate. A narrow path provides the only access to the hilltop where he stands and works his rocky magic. The bottom of this path is guarded by Gao Sheng (under Zhang Bao), and Zhang Bao's resupply gate is very near the top of it. Yan Zheng's unit is encamped on high ground to the southeast of the castle, with resupply from the southern edge of the map. Sun Zhong (under Yan Zheng) is deployed between Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Cao Cao's gate. Zhang Jiao himself begins just south of the castle (but west of the south gate) with a small force of crack troops. Zhang Liang has a large army positioned outside the west gate, running from Zhao Hong in the southwest corner by Sun Jian's gate to Han Zhong at the ford of the river in the north. He has a resupply gate along the west side of the map. Pei Yuan Shao, Guan Hai, and He Yi all begin north of the river, biding their time, and backed up by three supply gates, one just north of the river on the west side of the map, one in the middle of the northern edge of the map, and one just west of where the river flows off the map to the northeast. Zhang Jiao also has a sizable force north of the river. ----- Events: ----- Zhang Bao: At the beginning of battle, Zhang Jiao will spur on his troops in a cutscene ("Go! Ye children of the Yellow Turban!"). He Jin: After Zhang Jiao's cutscene, He Jin will issue orders for the battle ("Break the siege of the Yellow Turbans!" "Humble the rebels!"). Zhang Bao: At 1'00" into the battle, a cutscene will happen ("You flaming idiots... Take this!") and Zhang Bao will begin to drop boulders outside the east gate of the castle. His morale goes up, and passage up or down the right side of the map becomes more hazardous--getting hit by falling rocks *hurts* (veterans of DW2 will remember Zhang Liang's boulders and the catapults at Guan Du; the damage and effect is similar). Zhang Bao will continue dropping boulders until either (a) he starts rolling boulders down the hill instead, or (b) Zhang Bao dies. This event will not happen if Zhang Bao has already begun rolling boulders down the hill. Zhang Bao: When any Imperial unit reaches the bend in the hill (you can see the exact line that is crossed if you look closely at the ground; the ground is slightly darker on the uphill side) leading up to Zhang Bao, a cutscene will trigger ("Feel the power of my magic!") and he will begin rolling boulders down the hill. His morale goes up by a star, and large rocks roll down the long stretch of hill, crushing anyone in their path until they hit the wall at the bend and break into pieces. This will continue until either (a) the event below is triggered, or (b) Zhang Bao dies. This event will not happen if Zhang Bao is dead. (*)Zhang Bao: When a player reaches the top of the hill by Zhang Bao (about halfway across the flat stretch at the top), a cutscene will trigger in which the player's character breaks one of the large round rocks into pieces and urges his/her troops onward. This stops the rolling of boulders down the hill. Zhang Liang: When Zhang Liang starts feeling pressured (I'm not sure about the exact details, but it seems to happen when he's being attacked by two or more Han officers), his reinforcements will arrive in two large clumps, in the empty space between the western hills and the castle wall. Deng Mao leads the northern group, and Cheng Yuanzhi the south. Zhang Liang: When Zhang Liang's morale drops to two stars, if Zhang Jiao orders the general charge, or when Zhang Liang is defeated, a cutscene will trigger of Zhang Liang freezing the river ("Behold!"). The river will become passable, and all of the Yellow Turban units on the North Coast area will charge into the castle. Zhang Jiao: When Zhang Jiao is defeated before he has teleported elsewhere, a cutscene will trigger of him teleporting ("I have no time for the unenlightened!"). His unit will appear inside the castle, near the entrance to He Jin's compound. Zhang Jiao: When a player engages Zhang Bao, a cutscene will trigger of Zhang Jiao teleporting ("How can such as you hope to stand against me!"). His unit will appear near Liu Bei's starting location. This will not happen if Zhang Jiao has already teleported elsewhere. Zhang Jiao: When a player engages Zhang Liang, a cutscene will trigger of Zhang Jiao teleporting ("Useless! Useless! Hahahahaha!"). His unit will appear near Sun Jian's starting location. This will not happen if Zhang Jiao has already teleported elsewhere. Zhang Jiao: When Zhang Jiao is defeated after having teleported to Liu Bei's unit, Sun Jian's unit, or inside the castle, OR if a Han troop crosses onto the North Coast (this includes crossing the branch of the river inside the castle), a cutscene will trigger of Zhang Jiao teleporting ("When all else fails, attack!"). His unit will reappear on the North Coast. Zhang Man Cheng's unit will appear in front of the south gate of the castle (near where Cao Cao starts). All Yellow Turban units will gain two stars of morale. Zhang Liang will freeze the river if he has not already done so, and all Yellow Turban units will begin attacking in earnest. ---- Discussion ---- This battle is actually fairly easy. On Easy, the Han forces will drive back the Turbans and fight all the way to Zhang Jiao on the north coast, even if you do nothing. On Normal, Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Jian all have enough morale to hold their own against the Turbans for a while. On Hard, more work is required, but the battle does not require too much in the way of heroics. Liu Bei will head up the hill towards Zhang Bao, but the combination of boulders being rolled down the hill and the stream of resupplied troops from Zhang Bao's gate generally mean that he will not make much progress on his own, even with an overwhelming morale advantage. Once the general charge is sounded, however, Zhang Bao will try to make progress down the hill, and Liu Bei generally disposes of him quickly (assuming that he's still ahead in morale). After Zhang Bao has been dealt with, Liu Bei's unit will head west, either through the castle or sweeping below, depending on how the battle is going. He will eventually end up with the other commanders, just south of Zhang Jiao's final location; Zhang Fei and Guan Yu will press ahead to the north coast and harass Zhang Jiao. Zhang Bao's army will sit around on top of the hill until the cows come home, even should Liu Bei be defeated (this rarely happens before the "Attack!" event). After the charge is sounded, he will try to press down the hill and into the castle through the east gate, approaching He Jin. Zhang Jiao will go in for the kill on Cao Cao's unit, usually bypassing Cao Cao's officers to deal with the man himself. If their morale is evenly matched, or if Cao Cao is behind, there is a definite chance that Zhang Jiao will win the fight, crippling the Imperial defenses in the south. Though Yan Zheng typically suffers enough losses to make his troops ineffectual, they will still wear down the Imperials inside the castle, which makes it all the easier for Zhang Man Cheng to cut through them later. If Cao Cao or one of his troops defeats Zhang Jiao, the morale gained will put him out of immediate danger, allowing him to successfully press the attack against Yan Zheng. Sometimes this will result in Yan Zheng's defeat, but sometimes Yan Zheng will pull back into his camp and Cao Cao moves elsewhere, satisfied with the closing of the southern resupply gate. Having dealt with Yan Zheng, Cao Cao will usually sweep to the west, aiding Sun Jian from below. He too will eventually end up in a standoff position with Zhang Jiao, letting his officers do most of the work. Sun Jian has things tougher. He begins facing Zhang Liang's impressive army in front of the west gate, and while he himself does not start off in the thick of things, when his officers make some progress, Deng Mao and Cheng Yuanzhi will appear with an ambush party, cutting Sun Jian off from the castle and plunging him into battle; if he is behind in morale and meets Deng Mao, the conclusion is swift. If he makes early progress, he will often hold out for much longer (having more empty space in which to hide -- the Turbans don't seem particularly interested in killing him if he's not in their way). On Normal and Hard, however, some sort of aid is necessary to ensure his survival, be it personal intervention by a player or Cao Cao's support from the south. Should he survive, he will also press northwards to face Zhang Jiao. Zhang Liang also begins the battle in a defensive posture, despite Zhang Jiao's urgings. His army will engage Sun Jian's, but having prevailed in that battle, only some of it will press on into the castle; Zhang Liang will remain outside until the general charge is sounded. Ma Yuan Yi (under Zhang Jiao) begins the battle near the southwest corner of the castle. He will head north along the west wall and enter through the west gate, doing damage to the Imperials inside. He doesn't do much by himself, but weakens the defenses there preparatory to Zhang Jiao teleporting in. He is also usually the first officer, and hence the first threat, to reach He Jin. The Imperials usually don't do a whole lot. He Jin's officers do help to guard the supply gates, and if the battle goes well Liu Yan will kill an impressive number of He Yi's troops, but on the whole they exist solely to slow down the advance of the Turbans on He Jin himself. After Guan Hai is defeated, the Imperials will go on the offensive; He Jin will leave his compound (or try), and the other Imperial officers will exit the castle through their respective gates and press the attack on Zhang Jiao, wherever he may be. ---------- General Strategy ---------- Though the courses of action you can pursue are similar no matter whose army you're in, their effects on the battle differ quite a bit more, so much of that discussion is in the various Kingdom-specific commentaries (q.v.). However, there are some things to keep in mind. There are very few enemy archers on this stage. Zhang Bao has a unit of five, and it does not regenerate. None of the enemy officers are mounted, so horses are pretty scarce. There are a few tan horses to be had from enemy captains. If you're desperate for a faster horse, you can hang around one of your own officers and wait for them to be unseated; some of the Imperials have brown horses, Sun Jian and Cao Cao have white horses, and Liu Bei has Hex Mark (somewhat anachronistically). It is important to consider how to deal with Zhang Jiao. While chasing after him and defeating him quickly twice in succession early in the battle will help your morale, it will also help the Turbans' much more (once Zhang Jiao assumes his position north of the river). On Easy or Normal, for example, the Turbans north of the river actually have less morale than the Imperials; if Zhang Liang freezes the river and they charge, their army will suffer greatly. As the Imperials' lead in morale is tenuous at best, however, this lead will evaporate once Zhang Jiao beams across the river. Although I mentioned above that I consider this battle to be one of the easiest in the game, it is still possible to lose in a shockingly short period of time. In general, this happens due to the "When all else fails, attack!" event, in one of two ways. One is for the Turbans north of the river to get their morale boost, plow into the castle, slice through the Imperials, and corner He Jin, all while the player is elsewhere. This happens most quickly on Hard, and can turn a slight Imperial lead into a loss in the span of five minutes. The second major cause of He Jin's demise is Zhang Man Cheng. If Cao Cao is still in his initial position, he generally does not have the morale to compete with Zhang Man Cheng's, and because Zhang Man Cheng's unit appears right on top of his, it does not take long for him to succumb. If Cao Cao is no longer there, Zhang Man Cheng has a free shot into the castle. In either case, he or Bo Zhang will quickly dispose of any Imperials they encounter (except possibly on Easy). The morale boosts from these victories snowball, and Zhang Man Cheng can quickly top out his morale, after which it does not take him long to run down He Jin (even if the battle is all but won for the Imperials elsewhere). In any event, try to be aware of when these things will occur and plan accordingly. Zhang Man Cheng will not always sweep through the castle in the blink of an eye, but do not underestimate him, either. ------------- Things to Do: ------------- * If you're in Liu Bei's army, charge up the hill towards Zhang Bao in the first minute, so that he rolls boulders down the hill, rather than dropping them. (This also deprives him of a morale boost). * Before triggering the rolling boulder event, wait until a number of messages are in the message queue (say, when Cao Cao's troops defeat Zhang Jiao). Just as said messages start appearing, run all the way up the hill. The boulders don't actually start rolling until the cut-scene occurs, and so it's possible to have the boulder-smashing scene go off immediately after the boulder- rolling one. * Get Zhang Bao run over by his own boulders. If both the general charge and boulder-rolling events happen, Zhang Bao will roll boulders despite the fact that his troops (or even he himself) are in their path. The boulders don't seem to do fatal damage, but that's the only thing that prevents Zhang Bao from killing himself... * Lower Zhang Liang's morale until he freezes the river, then see how much of the northern Turban army either you or your forces can dismantle before Zhang Jiao finally teleports north and gives them enough morale to fight back. * They are twins, that is why: If Han troops reach the north coast, Zhang Jiao will teleport there and order the attack. However, the Zhang Jiao elsewhere will not instantly disappear if a player is sufficiently close to him, but instead will make a break for the nearest supply gate so that he can retreat off the map. He's listed as being an officer in the "other" Zhang Jiao's unit... * See how high you can get He Jin's morale, by allowing his troops to get the finishing blow on enemy officers. The obvious candidate is Sun Zhong; the others will take some more creativity... * ... No one left to kill? or He Jin plays Tourist: This one really needs to be done on Hard, so as to preserve Zhang Jiao as long as possible, and it's probably best if you pick either a Wu or Free character, though a Shu character would likely work as well. The first goal here is to get the Imperials to attack Zhang Jiao. To that end, quickly kill off Ma Yuan Yi, and enough of Zhang Liang's army so that he freezes the river. Turn your attention to Guan Hai and Pei Yuan Shao, and defeat them as well, which will get the Imperials moving. Sun Jian should have Zhang Liang up against the wall by now, and you may want to kill off Deng Mao if he's in He Jin's way. The Imperials will not be doing very well against Zhang Jiao, and so at some point you will need to go deal with him yourself, which will cause him to teleport into the (hopefully empty) castle. Depending on which of the Turbans are alive when Zhang Jiao is temporarily absent from the map, He Jin and the rest of the Han army may press the attack on Zhang Bao, which is quite a sight to see as well. If you can also eliminate the rest of the Yellow Turban units without crossing the river and triggering the attack sequence, Zhang Jiao will be left by himself somewhere with a large Han force bearing down on him. If you then kill him, for a few seconds there will be no Yellow Turban units on the map, but the battle will not end (since he's teleported to the north coast). ------- Goodies ------- Big Life Recovers : There's a Life Recover Full in a barrel just across from the entrance to He Jin's compound inside the castle (if you follow the left-hand wall as you leave the compound, it's pretty close), and another just east of the Yellow Turban resupply gate by the middle of the top of the map. There are two Life Recover +200s on the level as well, one in the northwest corner of the castle (that's cut off by the river branch) and one between the two rows of hills outside the west gate of the castle, near the south end. Items: Zhang Bao, Zhang Liang, and Bo Zhang each drop an item. Weapons: He Yi, Zhao Hong (in the southwest corner of the map), and Deng Mao each drop a weapon. Life Up: There are two Life +10 items on this stage; one is just to the right of where the river breaches the north wall of the castle, on the outside. The other is on one of those little platforms that occupy the little windows in the castle wall, the second one south from the northeast corner of the castle. Musou Up: There are also two Musou +10 items on this stage; one is along the western edge of the map, between the Imperial resupply gate in the south and Zhang Liang's starting spot. The other is on the second little platform north of the southwest corner of the castle. ---------------- Unlockable Stuff ---------------- Cao Cao gets his fourth weapon here, on the Han side. Zhang Jiao gets his fourth weapon here, on the Yellow Turban side. Zhang Jiao is unlocked as a playable character here, from the Han side. ========== The Battle at Hu Lao Gate A.D. 191 Allied Forces vs. Dong Zhuo's Forces ========== ---------- Background ---------- In the book: After the concentrated threat of the Yellow Turbans was dispelled, the eunuchs who wielded the real power behind the Emperor sought to consolidate their position. A number of regional leaders were unhappy with this, and so some of them, among them Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Dong Zhuo, make plans to remove the Ten by force. As a result of this, however, Dong Zhuo got his army into the capital and siezed power himself, which sat none too well with the other leaders. Cao Cao takes it upon himself to forge an Imperial decree against Dong Zhuo, and the beginnings of what will be the Wei army assemble. Cao Cao then distributes a proclamation calling for the support of the regional leaders, and forms an alliance of 18 of them, including Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, Sun Jian, Ma Teng (Ma Chao's father), and Gongsun Zan. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei join up with Gongsun Zan, having no real force of their own. The allies gather their forces and prepare to march. Yuan Shao is given the position of commander of the allies, and leads an attack on Tiger Trap Pass, where Dong Zhuo has gathered his army. Sun Jian volunteers to take the vanguard against Hua Xiong, Zhao Cen, Hu Zhen, and Li Su. Sun Jian makes progress, but Yuan Shu (who had been put in charge of supplies for the allies) refuses to send him any grain. Sun Jian's force is scattered by Hua Xiong. Guan Yu, who has not yet won wide acclaim, volunteers to kill Hua Xiong, which he does (over the protestations of some of the other commanders, who look only at his status and not battle prowess). Dong Zhuo has meanwhile brought up the majority of his force to the pass, and sent Li Jue and Guo Si to the Si river to await further instructions. Lu Bu takes up the position at the front of Dong Zhuo's army, and drives off all comers until Zhang Fei meets him in battle. The two of them fight winnerless for a while, and so Guan Yu joins the fray. Lu Bu is able to hold both of them off, and it is not until Liu Bei also pitches in that Lu Bu is driven back. Dong Zhuo's troops in the pass, however, are able to stop the charge of the brothers, and hold the pass against the allies. Dong Zhuo moves the capital forcibly elsewhere, and it is only at this point that the allies make it through Tiger Trap pass. However, Yuan Shao and many of the other commanders are reluctant to press the attack, and the alliance begins to break up. Cao Cao alone leads his force against the enemy, but it is ambushed by Xu Rong's force and Cao Cao himself nearly dies. These events take place in chapters 5 and 6; it is not until chapter 9 that Dong Zhuo is eventually killed (by Lu Bu). In DW2: The battle at Hu Lao Gate was much more linear in Dynasty Warriors 2, with the allied forces pressing south through a network of narrow, winding mountain passes and blockades to Fan Shui Gate, through the gate and slightly wider ways to Hu Lao Gate, and behind it, to Dong Zhuo's encampment. In DW3, the battle is a bit more fluid, with the allies arrayed around the top of the map and more distinct roles for each of the future Three Kingdoms. The battle, as portrayed in DW3, takes some liberties with the story. Yuan Shu's betrayal of Sun Jian is manifested as an inscrutable cutscene early on in the battle, and Yuan Shu himself is given a position near the back of the enemy force, where he is duly punished for his betrayal by Lu Bu. Li Jue and Guo Si's force did not come into play in the book, but the ambush provides a conception of how things might have played out had the allies been able to break through the pass after Lu Bu's retreat. Diao Chan, present at the DW3 battle as one of Dong Zhuo's generals, did not come into the story until after the alliance broke apart, and was in fact working to have Dong Zhuo killed, a task at which she eventually succeeded. Still, these liberties do make for a more interesting battle. Lu Bu is often fearsome enough to do his reputation in the book justice, and again the player's choice of kingdom has a great effect on the course of the fight. Once again, you get to fight alongside heroes from the other kingdoms and marvel at their prowess without being on the receiving end of it. ---------- Allied side ---------- ----- Units: Yuan Shao (***) Dong Zhuo (****/****-/*****-) Gongsun Zan (***) Lu Bu (****/****-/*****-) Liu Bei (****) Hua Xiong (***/***-/****-) Sun Jian (****) Fan Chou (**/**-/***-) Cao Cao (****) Xu Rong (***/***-/****-) Yuan Shu (***) [Li Jue] (****/****-/*****-) [Guo Si] (****/****-/*****-) ----- Yuan Shao begins the battle in a fortified encampent in the northwest corner of the map, the only entrance to which is a narrow pathway. He is resupplied by three gates, two along the north edge of the map and one along the west. Yuan Shu, in stark contrast to this safe and rearward position has an encampent in the southeast corner of the map. He has two resupply gates at his disposal, one at either side of his camp. It might be said that there is only one entrance to his camp, but we must understand that by "entrance" we mean "northwest corner", which has free access to the rest of the map. A small knot of Yuan Shu's troops block access to the main camp, but this does not last long. Sun Jian's forces are positioned for a head-on assault on Fan Shui gate via the wide central battlefield of the map. At the western end of this battlefield, Sun Jian has a resupply gate. Cao Cao's forces are positioned in a narrow path to the north of this central plain, poised to attack Fan Shui Gate from the flank. Cao Cao has a resupply gate just north of Sun Jian's. Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan are positioned along the north part of the eastern edge of the map, facing Wang Fang (an officer under Xu Rong) in front of the East Gate, which blocks access to the eastern end of the central corridor as well as Yuan Shu's encampment. Dong Zhuo himself is set up with a large army deployed along the southern third of the map. The majority of it is behind Hu Lao Gate, and is resupplied by three gates at the western edge of the map. Lu Bu's army is positioned to assault Yuan Shu's encampment, from the west and the north. He is supplied by a gate in the middle of the south edge of the map. Xu Rong's army is set up around the East Gate, with Wang Fang in front and the greater part of the army behind. He is resupplied by a gate just north of the East Gate and one in a small clearing north of the east end of the central area. He is himself just below this other resupply gate. Hua Xiong has the army in charge of defending Fan Shui Gate. To this end, Zhao Cen and Hu Zhen are positioned out front, along with some troops, and Hua Xiong himself is just behind the gate, backed up by an encampment and a resupply gate at the eastern end of the central area. Fan Chou has an army positioned on top of Fan Shui Gate, extending up a winding trail to the north edge of the map, where his supply gate is. Niou Fu (under Fan Chou) is positioned roughly in the middle of this army. ----- Events: ----- Yuan Shao: At the start of the battle, Yuan Shao gives his orders ("Sun Jian, go straight ahead. Cao Cao, go to the top of Fan Shui Gate! Yuan Shu, you attack from the rear! Liu Bei, go around and keep an eye on Hu Lao Gate!") Lu Bu: When Lu Bu engages Yuan Shu's troops, a cutscene occurs wherein Yuan Shu's troops flee in terror from Lu Bu ("I...I... It's... Lu Bu!"). Yuan Shu loses a star of morale. Sun Jian: At 2'00" into the battle, a cutscene occurs of a private informing Sun Jian that Yuan Shu isn't helping out ("Yuan Shu's army still has not moved."). Sun Jian's force loses a star of morale. This event does not occur if Fan Shui Gate has already fallen. Wang Fang: After Wang Fang is defeated (or retreats following the defeat of Xu Rong), a cutscene will occur of the East Gate opening. The East Gate will open. Hu Zhen, Zhao Cen: After Hu Zhen and Zhao Cen are defeated (or flee the field after Hua Xiong is defeated), a cutscene will occur of Fan Shui Gate opening. Fan Shui Gate will open. Lu Bu: When Lu Bu himself encounters Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Liu Bei (though it is not obvious exactly what the definition of "encounters" is), a cutscene will happen in which Lu Bu flees from them ("I have no time for the likes of you!"). Each of the Allied units gains a star of morale, and Lu Bu drops his northward assault in favor of heading for Fan Shui Gate. This event will not occur if Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, or Guan Yu is dead. (XXX?) Li Jue, Guo Si: Roughly five minutes after Yuan Shao starts moving from his encampment, Li Jue and Guo Si appear with their armies at the (possibly former) supply gate midway across the top of the map. Li Ru: When a player walks partway around the curved path leading to Hu Lao Gate near the bottom of the map (to a point just past the box of arrows), a cutscene will occur in which Li Ru orders his archers to open fire ("Ha Ha.. Like a lamb to the slaughter!"). Five groups of Dong Zhuo's archers (each consisting of two Bowmen and a First Bow) will appear on the rocky areas overlooking the path. This event will not occur if Li Ru's unit has already appeared. (*)Yuan Shao: When a player enters the large open area in front of Hu Lao Gate, a cutscene will occur in which the player urges the Allied forces onward towards the gate. An Assault Unit appears, consisting of an Assault Captain and four guards from Yuan Shao's army. Yuan Shao will give instructions ("Watch the Hu Lao Gate. When the gate opens, we will storm the castle."). This event will not occur if Hu Lao Gate has already opened. Li Ru: If the Assault Captain dies before Hu Lao Gate has fallen, Dong Zhuo will urge his troops to "Beat them back while they're still uncertain!" and Li Ru's unit will appear outside of Hu Lao Gate. Each of the Allied units will lose a star of morale. Li Ru: If all of the unit leaders of Dong Zhuo's troops outside Hu Lao Gate are killed before the Assault Captain dies (not including the archers in the towers), OR if Li Ru is killed after appearing outside Hu Lao Gate due to the previous event, a cutscene will occur in which Hu Lao Gate opens. Hu Lao Gate opens and Li Ru's unit will appear if it has not already done so. In the event that Hu Lao Gate has already opened to allow Dong Zhuo's army to emerge, the cutscene will still occur, but as the gate is already open the cutscene is just a few-second-long shot of Hu Lao Gate, unmoving. ----- Discussion ----- Aside from Lu Bu, this battle occurs pretty slowly (particularly compared to many of the later ones). Dong Zhuo's forces begin the battle in a defensive posture, with gates restricting their access to other parts of the map (save for heading north from the top of Fan Shui Gate, which the computer-controlled troops don't do). None of the troops behind walls can get to the bulk of the Allied forces until a gate opens. Only Lu Bu will take it upon himself to open gates and press the attack. On Easy and, to some extent, Normal, the rest of the Allied army will be fairly effective; often the Shu, Wu, and Wei forces begin with a morale advantage over the enemies they face. On Hard, nobody (except Yuan Shu) is in immediate danger of dying, though Liu Bei is put into that position not long after the battle starts. Sun Jian's force will immediately engage those troops of Hua Xiong's who are stationed in front of the Fan Shui Gate, as per Yuan Shao's orders. However, early on in the battle, Yuan Shu's "betrayal" will take the edge off of their morale, which on Normal or Hard generally ensures that they will not open Fan Shui Gate without help. After Fan Shui Gate falls, Sun Jian's army will press east across the central part of the battlefield, attacking first the remainder of Hua Xiong's unit, then moving to Xu Rong's and Lu Bu's armies. That opposition dealt with, they will head south to attack Dong Zhuo's army and Hu Lao Gate itself, winding up in the final assault on Dong Zhuo's fortified compound. Should things go badly for Sun Jian, Hua Xiong will not press the attack. Hu Zhen and Zhao Cen, assigned to guard the front of the gate, will be content to stand around and rack up kills on Sun Jian's army (as Sun Jian himself will retreat out of immediate danger if he is about to die). If Fan Shui Gate falls, Hua Xiong's army will press forward to attack Sun Jian and then Yuan Shao, although he may have severe morale issues by that point. Cao Cao's troops, again on Yuan Shao's orders, will head down the winding path towards Fan Chou, who sits atop Fan Shui Gate. Cao Cao generally has better morale than Fan Chou, except sometimes on Hard, so his force will make steady, if slow, progress. Cao Cao himself generally gets caught up in the steady flow of troops being resupplied from Fan Chou's gate, and so remains very near it until such time as Fan Chou dies or the gate is closed (at which time he will follow the rest of his army). Part of Cao Cao's force will stop to deal (slowly indeed) with Niou Fu, and the rest of it will press on towards the Gate until it reaches Fan Chou. Again, part of it will fight Fan Chou, but Cao Cao's officers have a tendency to head down the stairs behind Fan Shui Gate and engage Hua Xiong and Lu Bu's forces, which have often massed there. Without player intervention of some form, fighting Lu Bu's troops will cause a steady morale drain on Cao Cao's forces and prevent him from making significant progress, even if he defeats Fan Chou in the interim. Should he get some form of assistance, his force will head down into the central part of the map and pursue much the same mission plan as Sun Jian's troops do. Fan Chou is pretty much a non-factor in the battle, aside from giving Cao Cao's troops something to fight. Even in the event that Cao Cao's morale is reduced to no stars, Niou Fu and Fan Chou will not press the attack, and their troops alone are not enough to finish Cao Cao off. After Cao Cao's defeat, Fan Chou's army will still stand in place. Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan are ordered to "go around and keep an eye on the Hu Lao Gate", whatever that entails. As such, they have (relatively) easy access to the middle of Dong Zhuo's force once Wang Fang and the East Gate fall, which they often will without assistance on Easy or even Normal. Assuming that he does not run into Lu Bu, Liu Bei will head south along the east edge of the map and make steady progress across it, generally opening Hu Lao Gate on his own (though on Hard Dong Zhuo may need to lose some morale first). If, however, Liu Bei and Lu Bu clash, as will happen sooner or later unless a player is fighting in the general vicinity of Liu Bei's unit (or even standing around in Lu Bu's eventual path up the east side of the map), things change. If Liu Bei manages to defeat Lu Bu (which would require significant outside assistance), he will continue as if nothing had happened. If, however, he drives Lu Bu off, he will instead head west in pursuit (ignoring Yuan Shao's exhortations to the contrary), winding up in front of Fan Shui Gate, where his troops will block Yuan Shao's eventual progress eastward (assuming that Lu Bu doesn't kill him for his insolence). Lu Bu may also head for the center of the map if Hua Xiong's army is destroyed; Yuan Shao's movement south from his encampment may also cause Lu Bu to wheel around and head back to the east end of the central plain to block Yuan Shao's later potential progress. Xu Rong does virtually nothing. Even in the event that Fan Shui Gate falls and he has access to Yuan Shao's force, he will hold position in front of the mid-level resupply gate unless Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Jian die (at which point he will go ahead and attack along with everybody else). In the event that his army is mostly destroyed, Yuan Shao and the rest of the allies will bypass him on their way east, leaving him to stand a lonely vigil until the battle ends. Yuan Shao will remain in his encampment for a bit. After Fan Shui Gate falls and the East Gate opens (for whatever reason), or after the ten minute mark (whichever occurs later), Yuan Shao's army will move down into position outside Fan Shui Gate and attempt to press eastward through the central region of the map. After Yuan Shao's forces reach the staging area in front of Fan Shui Gate, Li Jue and Guo Si will appear by Fan Chou's supply gate. After dealing with Cao Cao (who is sometimes still there) they will proceed down the path towards Cao Cao's supply gate and attempt to attack Yuan Shao's force from behind. When they, Lu Bu, and Fan Chou are defeated, Yuan Shao's army will continue its progress eastward, where it will turn south and join in the assault on Hu Lao Gate. Yuan Shu will also remain in his encampent, generally until he dies (which happens in the first five minutes, even on Easy). On the off chance that he survives his encounter with Lu Bu (a feat which requires player intervention), he will head for Hu Lao Gate to attack Dong Zhuo. This attempt is probably also doomed to failure without outside help, as Lu Bu's troops are not shy about closing Yuan Shu's resupply gates and generally doing damage to his morale. If, despite this, he still manages to make progress against Dong Zhuo's forces, you're probably playing a grossly overpowered character... Lu Bu attacks Yuan Shu's force. After Yuan Shu is defeated, Lu Bu will head north towards the East gate, which he will open if necessary, and Liu Bei's force. After defeating Liu Bei (or having Zhang Liao or Gao Shun do it), Lu Bu will continue northwards through Gongsun Zan to Liu Bei's gate, closing it. He will then swing west across the top of the map, stopping to deal with Cao Cao (if he is still up by Fan Chou's gate). He will then head down the path towards the entrance to Yuan Shao's encampment and press the attack directly, either trapping Yuan Shao in his encampment or catching him in a pincer movement with Hua Xiong. Lu Bu's northward push will, however, sometimes trigger the "Lu Bu's forces are circling back!" event. Unfortunately, Liu Bei may be behind in morale even after the morale boost (particularly on Hard, but sometimes also on Normal) and can succumb to Lu Bu's forces soon thereafter (in some cases, mere seconds thereafter...); Lu Bu and company will finish their current engagements before changing tack. Whether Liu Bei is defeated immediately or not, Lu Bu will back off and head towards Fan Shui Gate (which may leave Yuan Shao caught in a rather vicious pincer attack with Lu Bu in front and Li Jue and Guo Si behind). If player one is fighting with Liu Bei's force (where "fighting with" includes standing up by Liu Bei's resupply gate), Lu Bu will head westward when he reaches a certain point in the map anyway (though it is still possible to trigger the event before this happens). Dong Zhuo's forces are almost purely defensive in nature. Li Meng heads up the army, stationed just outside the archer ambush area with a small force; Li Ru will appear outside Hu Lao Gate with another small force, and Diao Chan will aid the impressively large push of troops out of Hu Lao Gate after it falls. Any of Dong Zhuo's troops who are killed outside the gates will quickly be replaced by one of the three reinforcement gates at the rear of his encampment; until one or more of these are closed, the whole of the area behind Hu Lao Gate swarms with Dong Zhuo's troops. Should Yuan Shao's unit be the only Allied one left, Dong Zhuo's army will open Hu Lao Gate and press the attack, with Li Meng in the lead and Diao Chan behind. This also exposes the rest of the map to the three resupply gates behind the Gate. ---------- General Strategy ---------- The likely course of battle is a bit different depending on whose force you are in, and so the specifics of which actions it is helpful to pursue differ therewith. However, there are a few things to be aware of regardless of your affiliation: The number of archers on this stage is relatively small. There are a few on top of and behind Fan Shui and Hu Lao gates, a few more in towers, and a larger handful involved with Li Ru's ambush. However, none of them return after being killed, and none of them have crossbows. Unless you are playing a character with poor bow defense through this battle on Hard, you can probably leave the Shell Armor at home. Horses are easy to come by; all of the enemy unit leaders ride brown horses (except for Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu, who ride a white horse and Red Hare, respectively). The narrow confines of some of the pathways do make the tan horses less than useful at times, however. Lu Bu's morale begins high and is quickly boosted by his victory over Yuan Shu. This makes him a force to be reckoned with, even on Easy. If his morale is high, he can quickly put the hurt on anyone he runs across. Once his morale reaches eight stars, he can potentially wade his way through the Allied army to Yuan Shao. Lu Bu also takes quite a bit more effort to kill than most of the enemy generals. Thus, he poses a significant threat to Yuan Shao, and dealing with him is not, as a rule, easy. One option is, of course, killing him yourself. His stats are high, though affected by difficulty. Frequently, this means that your normal attacks will not make him flinch (and he can go into a Musou attack to interrupt your combo and otherwise ruin your day). His attacks sting quite a bit, and may break your block if you do not have the Buckler equipped, particularly his Musou attack. His bodyguards have nearly as much life and defense as he does, if not attack, and they have this annoying habit of poking you in the back and breaking your block at inopportune times. Finally, he has a lot of life recover items at his disposal. If your stats aren't up to the challenge but you simply must kill him, try to find some friendly generals to help distract him. Kill his guards if you get the chance (but be aware of his position), and hope your Musou or True Musou attack does enough damage to stagger him (otherwise he will almost certainly interrupt it with one of his own, win the resultant weapon lock, and give you a sound beating). Make liberal use of your bow. Another tactic is to sneak past him (or try to outrun him, having failed in that endeavor; he will not chase you forever) and head for his supply gate along the bottom of the map. En route, you want to kill as many of his troops as possible so as to lower his morale. Once it's down below that of Yuan Shao, he should not be a threat (On Hard you may want to go ahead and lower it all the way just to be sure, especially as Yuan Shao's morale is wont to drop once the ambush party hits him). Implementation may be tricky if you're in Liu Bei's force; Cao Cao and Sun Jian may not kill many of Lu Bu's troops at all (and hence none of them will be respawning from the gate). Li Jue and Guo Si are the other likely causes of defeat on this level. If they have more morale than Cao Cao when they appear, and he is still struggling with Fan Chou's reinforcements, he will quickly be overwhelmed. Strengthened by this victory, they will proceed down the western edge of the map and tear into Yuan Shao's army from behind. Even if Cao Cao has a small lead in morale, he may lose it as a result of the attack (though it will take longer for the ambush party to hit Yuan Shao). On the other hand, if Cao Cao has a two-star lead on one or both of Li Jue and Guo Si, he will frequently tie up most of the ambush party and run it into the ground. Even if Cao Cao is no longer near the ambush's point of origin, his gate captain can do an admirable job of tying up Li Jue and Guo Si (though not all of their troops), even to the point of killing them. Closing Fan Chou's resupply gate can lessen the ambush's effectiveness, particularly in those cases where you are fighting it off yourself and aren't dealing with the enemy troops with the greatest of ease. All in all, you may well want to grab a horse and ride back to deal with the ambush yourself. At least you get another weapon for your troubles... The final part of the battle (the assault on Dong Zhuo's compound) is not particularly difficult, but it is still possible to die. If you need to open Hu Lao Gate yourself, be aware that the Assault Captain pits Yuan Shao's morale against Dong Zhuo's. If Li Jue and Guo Si have tattered Yuan Shao's army, or his morale is otherwise low, the Assault Captain may not live very long at all. You can prolong his life by rushing to his location, which (a) gives the enemies someone else to attack and (b) puts the fighting on-screen, which helps to minimize the disadvantages of being surrounded and out-moraled. Should you need to leave the Assault Captain's side, be aware that some or all of the archers from atop the Hu Lao Gate will frequently "teleport" down to attack him if you do so. Be aware of Diao Chan; she's only the third-scariest enemy general on the level, but being playable still puts her ahead of most of the others in terms of damage output, and it is difficult to fight her alone while Dong Zhuo's three gates are still open. If Dong Zhuo's morale is lower than that of at least some of the allies and you're taking a beating, you might consider wandering elsehwere for 10-15 minutes and let your army make some progress; the various officers seem more willing to slog through the mess of enemy troops to close the resupply gates at the back of the encampment if you're not around. ---------- Things To Do: ---------- * If you've got a character with a decent bow, you can jump over the battlements of Fan Shui Gate and stand on the supporting pillars which jut out. Presuming that you've already killed the archers on top of the gate, you can then snipe people on the plain below in relative peace. You can do this with Hu Lao Gate as well, but it's not as useful; the pillars are only in front so that by the time you can jump on them there aren't many people you'd rather shoot than deal with in person on the plain below. * See how many times you can get "Supply Captain" to show up in the event history. He's treated as an officer under Dong Zhuo, except that he doesn't show up on the unit list. The obvious things for him to do are killing Cao Cao and sealing gates; for him to do more probably requires a horribly losing battle. * Similarly, the Assault Captain has potential, although rather more limited. He's part of Yuan Shao's unit, so playing a Free Mode character (to boost his morale) is probably required, and even then it is difficult for him to make progress through the gateway by himself. ------- Goodies ------- Big Life Recovers: There is a Life Recover Full on the south end of the top of Hu Lao Gate, another along the north edge of the clearing outside Fan Shui Gate (just where the area starts to narrow), and a third near the western end of the central plain, at the top of the middle path where the plain splits into three pieces. There are a couple of Life Recover +200s as well, at the fork in the path north of the East Gate and on top of the middle of Fan Shui Gate. Items: Li Meng, Guo Si, and Fan Chou each drop an item. Weapons: Zhang Liao, Li Jue, and Zhao Cen each drop an item. Life Up: The Life +10 is located in a pot on top of the north end of Hu Lao Gate. Musou Up: Similarly, the Musou +10 is located in a pot on top of the south end of Fan Shui Gate. ----------- Unlockable Stuff ----------- The Red Hare Saddle is obtained here, from the Allied side. Lu Bu gets his fourth weapon here, on Dong Zhuo's side. Diao Chan gets her fourth weapon here, on Dong Zhuo's side. Dong Zhuo gets his fourth weapon here, on Dong Zhuo's side. Lu Bu is unlocked as a playable character here (on the Allied side?). Dong Zhuo is unlocked as a playable character here (on the Allied side). Diao Chan is unlocked as a playable character here (on the Allied side). ===== Shu Overview ===== Shu characters participate in 14 different battles. Of these, two are random bandit-killing expeditions (the Mountain Bandit Campaign and Raid on the Rogue Fortress stages) and two are only played by one Shu character each (Guan Yu's Escape, Tong Gate). Those that are left are the ten stages played by Liu Bei, the founder and first leader of Shu. The other Shu characters only play seven stages each, five 90-minute and two 30-minute battles. All Shu characters play the Chang Ban and Yi Ling stages, leaving three other spots to be filled in their quota of 90-minute stages. Three characters (Guan Yu, Wei Yan, Huang Zhong) play the "Classic" set, which adds the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and the battles at Hu Lao Gate and the Wu Zhang Plains--these are the same five stages played by Shu characters in Dynasty Warriors Two. Two characters (Zhang Fei, Pang Tong) play the middle set, which adds the battles at Hu Lao Gate and Chi Bi and ends with the Nanman Campaign. The remaining four characters (Zhao Yun, Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wei, Ma Chao) play the late set of battles, which adds the battles at Chi Bi and Wu Zhang Plains, as well as the Nanman Campaign. =========== Shu Battles =========== ---------- The Yellow Turban Rebellion (Han side) A.D. 184 ---------- ----- Shu characters present: Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, Guan Yu Shu characters who play this battle: Guan Yu, Wei Yan, Huang Zhong, Liu Bei When played by a Shu character, this stage is always the first. ----- As a Shu character, whether in Musou or Free mode, you will begin the stage in Liu Bei's unit, which is outside and somewhat to the south of the east gate of the castle. If you're playing two players, and both characters are Shu officers who would not otherwise appear in the battle, the second player will be added to He Jin's unit and begin in the "Free Mode character" start spot. ----- ---- Strategy (Shu-specific) ---- Liu Bei's troops, as noted in the general discussion, will first try to assault Zhang Bao and then help elsewhere, gradually making their way around to where Zhang Jiao is. Playing as a Shu character puts you in Liu Bei's unit, meaning that any officers you kill will add to his morale, leading in turn to increased effectiveness. This affords you the opportunity to completely ignore Zhang Bao, if you so desire. Once Liu Bei gets ahead of Zhang Bao in morale (and there are plenty of officers for you to kill to make that happen), his army will control the lower part of the hill, preventing Zhang Bao's troops from going anywhere. The combination of the rolling boulders, the narrow path to the top of the hill, and the resupply gate at the top generally make it impossible for Liu Bei's unit to kill Zhang Bao no matter how much of a morale advantage he has. However, once Zhang Jiao calls for the attack, Zhang Bao will push past his resupply gate, which usually leads to a quick death. Even if you want to completely ignore Zhang Bao, it's not a bad idea to quickly kill Gao Sheng; this will give Liu Bei an extra star of morale and prevent Gao Sheng from getting lucky and killing somebody important before Liu Bei's morale hits the ceiling. It shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes, in any case. If you want to speed up Zhang Bao's demise so as to free up Liu Bei's army to go elsewhere, you can also run to the top of the hill to stop the boulders and close off the resupply gate. This requires some crowd-fighting ability, but there are three life recover +100s to be had nearby (one at the base of the hill, one by the supply gate, and one at the entrance to Zhang Bao's hilltop grove), which should cover whatever needs you may have. You can also, of course, just kill Zhang Bao yourself, which is even faster. This will, however, (a) cause Zhang Jiao to teleport away from Cao Cao [which might not be a bad thing in some circumstances], and (b) generally cause Liu Bei's army to kill Zhang Jiao, triggering the landslide of Yellow Turbans into the northwest part of the castle. If you are ripping through Yellow Turbans like so much tissue paper, this may not bother you; otherwise, it's something to be aware of, since you will likely have to deal with many of them yourself. Other than that aspect, there isn't much to be said about the battle that wasn't said in the general strategy section. Cao Cao may or may not need help dealing with Zhang Jiao and Yan Zheng; frequently he is able to hold his own on Normal and get by without much help on Hard. Sun Jian will need help sooner (beware if Deng Mao appears right on top of him) or later (after Zhang Jiao orders the attack), unless you're playing on Easy. ---------- The Battle at Hu Lao Gate (Allied side) A.D. 191 ---------- ----- Shu characters present: Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, Guan Yu Shu characters who play this battle: Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Wei Yan, Huang Zhong, Pang Tong, Liu Bei When played by a Shu character, this stage may be the first, second, or third. ----- As a Shu character, whether in Musou or Free mode, you will begin the stage in Liu Bei's unit, near the northeast corner of the map. In two-player mode, if both characters are Shu characters other than Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, the second player will be placed in Sun Jian's unit and begin the battle in the usual Wu character starting spot. ----- ----- Strategy (Shu-specific): ----- The "Shu" force, which may be mentally enlarged to include Gongsun Zan's unit, is charged with slipping behind Dong Zhuo's vanguard and keeping his unit bottled up (not that it was going anywhere in any event). As things play out, they usually have to deal with Lu Bu's northward sally as well. However, with a player in the army, Liu Bei's troops are well set to weather these storms. Arguably, Shu characters have the easiest time with this battle. If you do not push down the east side of the map too quickly, Lu Bu will change course to avoid you, and both Wang Fang and Li Meng are standing in your path as quick and easy morale boosts. Given any sort of morale lead over Dong Zhuo, Liu Bei may be left to his own devices to begin the assault on the Hu Lao Gate, leaving you a free hand to help the battle elsewhere as you see fit. If you do not have any other good way of dealing with Lu Bu, this may involve leaving well enough alone and letting Lu Bu bump his head against the inside of the closed Fan Shui Gate. In this event, you also need not worry about the ambush, which will not happen until after Yuan Shao moves. Should you choose to unleash the lion (to mix metaphors) and open Fan Shui Gate, don't expect too much help from the computer's troops unless you have somehow also reduced Lu Bu's morale to managable levels. You will probably also need to defeat the ambush yourself unless you're playing on Easy. There are other strategic options as well. You can head over and close Fan Chou's gate (which will help out Cao Cao, and later Yuan Shao) and then head down to assist either Cao Cao or Sun Jian against their respective enemies. You may want to leave the final blow on Niou Fu and either Hu Zhen or Zhao Cen to your allies so as to help out their morale, but you should feel no compunction about killing Hua Xiong and Fan Chou yourself; Liu Bei can use the morale. Since you are not fighting along the east side of the map, the event in which Lu Bu is driven off may acutally occur (it may do so otherwise, but it's a bit rarer), and further, Liu Bei may actually have enough morale to survive the experience. You may still need to help out with Lu Bu yourself (since Sun Jian and Cao Cao will likely not have as much morale as he does), but Liu Bei's force will do quite a job of chewing up Lu Bu's army from behind. If you decide to ignore the east side temporarily and instead help Sun Jian, you may want to start on a horse, since it's quite a hike over there and you don't want Lu Bu to make much progress against Liu Bei; should Liu Bei's morale start dropping before you kill any officers, he may not survive long enough to benefit from any morale you do accrue. ========== Wu Battles ========== ---------- The Yellow Turban Rebellion (Han side) A.D. 184 ---------- ----- Wu characters present: Sun Jian, Huang Gai Wu characters who play this battle: Huang Gai, Da Qiao, Lu Meng, Sun Jian When played by a Wu character, this stage is either the first or second. ----- As a Wu character, whether in Musou or Free mode, you will begin the stage in Sun Jian's unit, which is outside the west gate of the castle. (XXX) ----- ---------- Strategy (Wu-specific): ---------- Sun Jian's troops are the first line of defense against Zhang Liang, and they are also in the best position to deal with Pei Yuan Shao and Guan Hai after the river is frozen. After the defeat of Zhang Liang, Sun Jian's army will head north, one way or another (cutting through the castle if there are Turbans there). Some parts of it may also head south to help out Cao Cao, depending on circumstances. Playing as a Wu character, therefore, means that you do not have to worry (as much) about the castle being invaded from the West, provided that Sun Jian gets some early morale boosts. Lowering Zhang Liang's morale to the point where he freezes the river can be helpful as it allows you access to Pei Yuan Shao and Guan Hai before they get a lot of support. You can also effect this change by killing Zhang Liang outright, but unless you use a bow Zhang Jiao will teleport over to Sun Jian, and comments similar to those in the Shu section apply -- you may trigger Zhang Man Cheng before you're ready to deal with him. In any event, be aware of the potential for Zhang Bao or Zhang Man Cheng to steamroll through the castle once their primary opposition is gone. Provide help where needed, and the battle should not be particularly taxing. ---------- The Battle at Hu Lao Gate (Allied side) A.D. 191 ---------- ----- Wu characters present: Sun Jian, Huang Gai Wu characters who play this battle: Huang Gai, Zhou Yu, Da Qiao, Lu Meng, Sun Ce, Sun Jian When played by a Wu character, this stage may be the first, second, or third. ----- As a Wu character, whether in Musou or Free mode, you will begin the stage in Sun Jian's unit, in front (to the west) of Fan Shui Gate. In two-player mode, if both players are Wu characters other than Sun Jian and Huang Gai, the second player will be placed in Liu Bei's unit and will begin the battle in the northwest corner of the map. ----- ----- Strategy (Wu-specific): ----- Sun Jian's force forms the vanguard of the Allied troops and the first line of attack upon the Fan Shui Gate and, and it will set to killing Hu Zhen and Zhao Cen. That accomplished, it will press across the center of the map, taking on any and all comers (for better or for worse). Having survived, it will swing around southwards to attack Hu Lao Gate and Dong Zhuo. Sun Jian's army fares well enough in these endeavors given some morale, but this may be a problem on Hard if your character can't deal adequately with the enemy troops. In that event, you may do well to stick close to Sun Jian's army and help him stick it to Hua Xiong, possibly followed by a slight detour to kill Fan Chou. If you kill Hua Xiong's army quickly enough, Lu Bu may decide not to head north against Liu Bei; since the morale from three or four officer kills most likely puts Sun Jian ahead of Lu Bu, this is to be considered a good thing. Should Lu Bu or one of his officers defeat Liu Bei, however, you'll need to do something to hurt his morale before he starts killing Sun Jian's officers. I needn't mention that if Sun Jian dies and you can't take Lu Bu yourself you will be in a world of hurt. If the battle does go well against Lu Bu, you may want to offer more direct assistance to Cao Cao and Liu Bei, should they need it; Cao Cao's gate captain can do a great deal to slow down Li Jue and Guo Si's attack on Yuan Shao (though Sun Jian's also helps). If you can make it before Li Jue and Guo Si show up, closing Fan Chou's resupply gate is usually a help; the easiest way up there is often straight past Fan Chou (though you may want to pass him, kill or assist in killing Niou Fu, and then get Fan Chou on the return trip). It is also possible to begin the battle by heading up towards Cao Cao and attacking Fan Chou's army from above. However, the battle usually turns out much the same way as if you had proceeded straight ahead, with the disadvantage that Sun Jian takes the morale hit from the Yuan Shu "betrayal" scene (and you lose about a minute walking up there). On the other hand, if you're having problems killing enemy troops en masse, you can also write off Sun Jian's unit, head up around the top of the map, and pretend you're one of Liu Bei's officers. You must strike an imbalance, however: it's all right if you kill few officers, granting Sun Jian no morale, because then he won't open Fan Shui Gate; it's also fine to kill lots of officers quickly, pushing Sun Jian's morale up to the point where he can stall Lu Bu. However, if you kill the odd officer here and there, there's a risk that Fan Shui Gate will open and Hua Xiong and Lu Bu will emerge and steamroll the rest of Sun Jian's army. The ambush is still something of a worry. If Fan Chou's resupply gate is closed, Sun Jian's gate captain is in a good position to thin out the attacking army, but doesn't always get to fight the officers (who may still, therefore, kill Yuan Shao). On Normal and Easy, Cao Cao or his gate captain may also have enough morale to deal with part of the army, and you can generally breathe easy. On Hard, you may want to snag a horse and head back there yourself just to make sure. =========== Wei Battles =========== ---------- The Yellow Turban Rebellion (Han side) A.D. 184 ---------- ----- Wei characters present: Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan Wei characters who play this battle: Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Xu Huang, Cao Cao When played by a Wei character, this stage is always the first. ----- As a Wei character, whether in Musou or Free mode, you will begin the stage in Cao Cao's unit, which is outside the south gate of the castle. (XXX) ----- ---------- Strategy (Wei-specific): ---------- Cao Cao's unit is in immediate conflict with Yan Zheng and Zhang Jiao's advance force. After the defeat or crippling of Yan Zheng's unit, and after Zhang Jiao goes elsewhere, Cao Cao's troops will either swing around to the west, hitting Zhang Liang from below, or press north through the castle, dealing with whatever is there. Zhang Man Cheng also has a habit of appearing directly on top of Cao Cao. Playing as a Wei character affords you a great deal of flexibility. Zhang Jiao may be an early threat if he's tied with or ahead of Cao Cao in morale, but a couple of officer kills will set that straight. Providing that Zhang Man Cheng does not appear too early in the battle, Cao Cao should be able to crush his army soon after it appears, since not much will lower Cao Cao's morale after it gets to the six-star level. Yan Zheng is rarely a threat in any case, but you can deal with him yourself if you want without the same worries about Zhang Jiao that are mentioned in the Shu and Wu strategy sections. Killing Yan Zheng and Sun Zhong should also lead to Zhang Jiao's quick defeat, sending him into the castle, after which you can deal with Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao however you please. The early defeat of Yan Zheng may help Liu Bei a little bit, as he is sometimes close enough to gain morale from the victory. However, he will still likely need help on Normal or Hard to eventually prevail against Zhang Bao. Sun Jian sees some benefits if Cao Cao's army is stompier; after the fall of Yan Zheng and Zhang Jiao, some of Cao Cao's forces head in that direction to put pressure on Zhang Liang from below. He may still be in trouble if (a) Zhang Liang already has a lead in morale, (b) Deng Mao has appeared on top of him, or (c) Zhao Hong is still blocking his reinforcements from reentering the battle. Be aware of Sun Jian and Liu Bei's situation and help them out if need be, disposing of enemy sub-officers one at a time as time permits to boost Cao Cao's morale. ---------- The Battle at Hu Lao Gate (Allied side) A.D. 191 ---------- ----- Wei characters present: Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun Wei characters who play this battle: Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Xu Huang, Dian Wei, Zhang Liao, Zhen Ji, Cao Cao When played by a Wei character, this stage may be the first, second, or third. ----- As a Wei character, whether in Musou or Free mode, you will begin the stage in Cao Cao's unit, to the north of the Fan Shui Gate, just west of Fan Chou's resupply gate. (XXX) ----- ----- Strategy (Wei-specific): ----- Cao Cao's small army is assigned the task of harassing the Fan Shui Gate from the top, ideally pressing down behind the gate and killing Hua Xiong should the need arise, at which point they join Sun Jian's army in rolling eastward and then around south towards Dong Zhuo. As at the Yellow Turban Rebellion, being in Cao Cao's unit affords you a good deal of flexibility. You can either fight along with Cao Cao's army, which can build up enough morale to stop Lu Bu in a manner similar to that of Sun Jian's, you can wander over and fight with Liu Bei's unit if you're feeling underpowered, or you can wander around and assault Fan Shui Gate from the front along with Sun Jian's troops (if you're feeling silly). Left to their own devices, Cao Cao's other officers will wander down to the central plain, get engaged in fights with higher-morale troops, and get killed (generally by Lu Bu's army). This need not necessarily be prevented, and it is certainly possible to fight the battle without the help of Cao Cao's troops. Similar comments to those in the Wu strategy section apply, although Cao Cao's unit has a bit more slop in terms of morale variance; since Hua Xiong doesn't die as inevitably as do Hu Zhen and Zhao Cen, there is more time for Lu Bu's army to remove any morale surplus should the need arise (and if they can't do the job, it is unlikely that Lu Bu will be able to get past Cao Cao's troops himself). Further, if Cao Cao's officers do have morale, they will kill many of Lu Bu's troops, who will then respawn at his gate in the south, in time for you to kill them repeatedly to lower his morale. Should you fight the battle straight through with Cao Cao's army, it is a good idea to hop over Fan Shui Gate to Sun Jian's side and either kill or help kill Hua Xiong's officers to open the gate (so as not to waste the morale boosts from them). This shouldn't take more than an extra minute or two. Xu Rong is also worth a detour to kill unless you have a pressing need to lower Lu Bu's morale. Cao Cao's gate captain, when given eight stars of morale, does a remarkably good job of stopping the ambush. Some troops will slip past him to harry the rear of Yuan Shao's forces, but Li Jue and Guo Si typically feel the need to close the gate themselves. It is not uncommon for the gate captain to kill both of them (even on Hard!). ============= Other Battles ============= ---------- The Yellow Turban Rebellion (Han side) A.D. 184 ---------- ----- Free characters present: (none) ----- As a free character, you will be placed in He Jin's unit and begin the game just outside the west gate of the castle, behind Sun Jian's army. (XXX) ----- ---------- Strategy (Free-specific): ---------- He Jin's troops don't really do a whole lot except slow the Yellow Turbans down when they are making their final attack run on He Jin himself. You might think, therefore, that having He Jin's morale at eight stars as a result of being in his unit would make him well-nigh invulnerable. Sadly, this is not the case. In general, when either the Shu, Wu, or Wei forces has to retreat, the morale boost the killing unit receives allows them to quickly demolish any Imperial troops they come across inside the castle. By doing so, they quickly ramp up to eight stars worth of morale themselves, and while the fight into He Jin's compound will take them longer than it would otherwise, the fact that He Jin's reinforcements are cut off makes his eventual defeat inevitable (presuming, of course, that you don't go help him). The extra morale is good for something; Liu Yan will tie He Yi up quite nicely in the northeast, Zhang Chao may eventually kill Zhao Hong in the southwest, and Zou Jing, who guards the west gate of the castle, will be more effective. However, these benefits are not as much of a factor as the extra morale you would get for playing as one of the three kingdom forces, however. The simplest course of action is to pretend you're part of Sun Jian's army and go deal with Zhang Liang in a manner of your choosing, bearing in mind that Sun Jian's army will not be quite as capable after Zhang Liang's defeat as it would be if you were in it giving it morale for each of the officers. Heading immediately south to beat Ma Yuan Yi is also a good way to start. The increased morale of He Jin's troops does shorten Zhang Jiao's life span once he teleports into the castle a bit, so be prepared for the all-out attack. You'd like to have the west side completely under control so as to be able to deal with Zhang Man Cheng and Zhang Bao. If that isn't possible, you do have longer than usual to make your way back through the castle. Fighting your way in to where He Jin is may be painful once the Turbans hold the entrance to his compound, so plan accordingly. You can also try to bring He Jin's extra morale into play by quickly getting the river frozen and killing Guan Hai. He Jin's force will fare decently, but the other Imperial units most likely will have some difficulties (especially on Hard), especially Lu Zhi, who gets to exit the castle through the east gate, which most likely still has boulders raining down outside it. ---------- The Battle at Hu Lao Gate (Allied side) A.D. 191 ---------- ----- Free characters present: Yuan Shao ----- As a Free character other than Yuan Shao, you will be placed in Yuan Shao's unit at the entrance to his encampment in the northwest corner of the map. (XXX) Yuan Shao begins the battle north of the middle of his encampment. ----- ----- Strategy (Yuan Shao-specific): ----- Playing as Yuan Shao is essentially the same as playing as any other Free-mode character, except that you start even farther from the action and you cannot lose the battle by your commander being killed while you aren't around. This second feature does have the drawback, however, that in many cases the enemy troops will converge on your location with gusto. In particular, if you're much east of the part of the map where Yuan Shao normally waits to be ambushed when Li Jue and Guo Si appear, they will head east from their starting positions and swing down around the right side of the map and attack you directly. At least that's the theory; if Lu Bu hasn't circled around and isn't too far north when they appear, it's possible for their armies to get stuck on each other in much the same way that Yuan Shao and Liu Bei's can, leaving them out of play in the northeast corner of the map. Should you want to fight them but don't feel like taking the whole mess on by yourself, you can unblock them by heading back towards the western end of the central plain (which should be in the middle of your army) and stand there for a bit until Li Jue and Guo Si get closer. ----- Strategy (Free-specific): ----- Yuan Shao's army exists solely to get attacked after the other allied forces have either been destroyed or bypassed. It will remain in the northwest corner of the map until Fan Shui Gate falls and the East Gate is opened, proceed to the area in front of Fan Shui Gate, and then be attacked from the rear by Li Jue and Guo Si. If Fan Shui Gate remains closed and Liu Bei fails to turn Lu Bu's advance aside, it's possible for the fighting to reach the northwest encampment. Once most of Dong Zhuo's forces have been destroyed, Yuan Shao will bring up the rear of the Allied army, attacking Dong Zhuo himself only if the Allies have been severely thinned. Given the limited amount of combat Yuan Shao's army sees, we note that (a) very little will lower his morale before he leaves the encampment and (b) all that morale does little for the Allies in general, aside from preserving their commander. The courses of action one can take are similar to those for a Wu character: attacking Fan Shui Gate from the front is the default, and in the event that Dong Zhuo's army is beating you down you can also make your way around the top of the map to Liu Bei's force and try to sneak past much of Dong Zhuo's army. The direct approach has the disadvantage that neither Sun Jian nor Cao Cao will get as much morale as you'd like, so that on Hard they will probably not be capable of dealing with Lu Bu once he makes his approach. Liu Bei is also difficult to save on Hard, and his death makes more morale for the rest of the Allies imperative. Cao Cao can be held in place temporarily by leaving Fan Chou alive, in the hope that Lu Bu will make his way west to face Yuan Shao's force directly, after which Cao Cao can make his way down to the central area. As compared to playing a Wu character, attacking from Cao Cao's side has a couple of advantages: the enemies are about equidistant from the starting point as the warrior runs, it is difficult to open Fan Shui Gate before the "Sun Jian's forces are in danger!" even occurs, and running up past Fan Chou to close the gate up top may be less attractive, since Sun Jian is less able to fend for himself. Still, if you can slip past Lu Bu somehow and lower his morale below that of Yuan Shao, he will not be able to successfully attack. The ambush, too, has nobody to kill and gain morale from (unless Cao Cao is still up top when they show up), and seven or eight stars should see Yuan Shao safely through their assault as well. Once Lu Bu's morale is lowered and his reinforcements cut off, it becomes a matter of waiting for someone else to kill him, at which point the battle proceeds along normal lines (albeit usually with a less-than- full-strength Allied force). Joining Liu Bei's force has the advantage (over playing a Wu or Wei character and taking a similar tack) that Yuan Shao's forces will not open Fan Shui Gate on their own no matter how much morale he gets, and there is therefore no worry of Lu Bu breaking out to find only a half-strength army between Yuan Shao and himself. The corresponding disadvantage is that it's still difficult to boost Liu Bei's morale as much as one might hope, and any morale that Yuan Shao does accrue is effectively useless. ==== This document is copyright 2002 Andrew Schoonmaker.