I know that archers rule and swordsmen generally suck in AoW, but lets not write off the Orc swordsman just yet. As the AoW Strategy Guide says, "the Orc swordsman is the best level 1 melee unit in the game...arguably the best level 1 unit in the game."
I couldn't agree more! It has 4s in both attack and damage categories. Hang some medals on him and he kicks some serious butt. Now I know that you're thinking "but what about the Azrac swordsman, with a 5 attack?" Well, that is high, but the Azracian only has a 3 damage and a pathetic 1 defense, meaning he dies quick.
Orc cavalry is impressive as well. I believe they're the only Level 2 cavalry with a 4 damage rating. Not the best cav, but with their charge ability they're doing an impressive 6 attack and damage (before medals), killing many archers in one hit. Give them a medal and that's a 7 damage rating!
The doom bat is probably the worse flyer in the game. Underground concealment has its uses, but it's not that great. Plus, its movement rate is horrible! Only 26! The irony is that in my "Dwarf Quest" PBEM game, I've got a bat at gold medal. Damn, that's the luckiest bat in the world. It's captured about 5 towns by itself. It does have poison stike and cause fear with a hit, with makes up for some of it's faults, but only barely.
We've debated the merits of the Orc Assassin in the Of course, everyone recognizes the strength of the Warlord. Can you say, "HULK SMASH!!"? We're comparing them to the Highman Titan in the The red dragon is one of the most kick ass units in the game! Great stats, tons of hitpoints and fire breath! A single dragon can wipe out entire armies by itself if that army doesn't have at least 6-7 archers in it. The big question: which comes first? The Assassin or the Warlord? Like all great answers from lawyers, "it depends." If I've got a 4 hex nearby where i can make dragons, plus my hero is a very high level, I'll make some assassins because I already have some muscle. If I happen to capture a 3 hex that is far from my main empire, I may go with Assassins first as well, to get the lay of the land, capture undefended level 1 and 2 towns and steal enemy resources. It also depends on what races I'm friendly with at the time. If I have no dragons, but can make Undead Bone Horrors? I'll go with the bone horrors (in a PBEM against RAyB (the Forgotten Evil map), I had a gold medal bone horror with enchant weapon, stone skin, bless and dark gift cast upon it. That bad boy was a tank and it pillaged Frogman's empire racking up almost 90 XP before falling. He even killed a 5th level hero; can't beat their high HP, death strike and regeneration...but I digress). Since the bone horrors are providing the muscle, I'll make assassins as support troops and to engage in espionage/harrassment tactics. I also like to use Dark Elf Executioners as my muscle troops combined with Assassins. The spelling here is probably atrocious, but hey, it's 1 AM [This message has been edited by Angel Draco (edited 08-17-2001 @ 12:37 PM).]
I like to have a combination of orc archers and swordsmen. As noted, swordsmen can really dish out the hurt, and if I have the gold and there's a training stadium nearby, I'll ussually give them a silver medal right away. Sometimes I'll even cast stoneskin and enchant weapon if mana is plentiful. Talk about a bad ass swordsman!