Strategy Guide: The Humans

The very mark of averageness


Note: This isn’t written to the experts, but to the newbies

Initial Comments:

Humans have always been considered to be the mark of average, they are, but average isn’t always weak, at lvl 3 and 4 they are among the best races, only in lvl 1 and 2, I can call them average, but they are far from my favorite race.

Diplomacy:

The Humans have the huge tactical advantage of being neutral, you can buddy up with both the good and the evil races, at the same time as you’re friend with the Frostlings, Lizardmen, or Azracs. Though they are neutral, they have polite relations with the Highmen, which gives them an even better diplomatic situation.

Units:

The Humans have average units, but they still have some good ones, the Pikeman(A normal swordsman with first strike), Cavalier and Air Galley are very good for their levels(Cavalier is one of the best lvl3 burly units). However, their lvl4 unit is even better, it shares the 1st place in the best lvl4 units list with the red dragons.


Lvl1 Units


Human Archer

The Human archer is an average archer, it isn’t much to say about it.

Human Swordsman

This is the unit that’s guilty of making the Humans average, 4 attack 3 dmg isn’t much, but it aint’ bad either, it can beat up some lvl1 units anyway.

Human Pikeman

This is a real nice cavalrykiller, a human swordsman infused with first strike, its WAY better than the Goblin spearman, this unit is among the 5 best special lvl1 units.


Lvl2 Units


Human Priest

This is the average Priest, healing, turn undead, magic bolts & strike, and of course dispel magic. It can kill wraiths and any other physical immunity units.

Human Cavalry

Mostly the average cavalry unit, But this one has a bit better movement than most of the other cavalry units, but as with the Archer it isn’t so much to say about it.


Lvl3 Units


Human Charlatan

This unit isn’t much of use, its mainly a lvl 2 unit stuck in the form of a lvl3 unit, although, it has concealment and charm, so you can use them for “strike n’ hide” operations… But don’t use Charlatans, they aint’ worth it!

Human Musketeer

This unit is a bad unit, its like a ballista with one shot, though it can be healed, it has lesser hp, and none of the immunities a ballista has, if you want any good long-ranged units, spend your money on ballistae, not this one.

Human Cavalier

This is one of the better lvl3 units in the game, it has lots of hp, defense and attack, charge, and parry, so it’s a bit better than a warlord. Its even faster than most of the lvl3 flyers, and is practically immune to first strike units, as parry beefs its defense up to 8, which is far away from any of the first strike units attack.


Lvl4 Unit


The Human Air galley

This is one of the best lvl4 units in the game, its a flying ballista with markmanship I and lots of hp and defense, makes it a real winner, it can also transport 7 units fast across the map, a good idea is to have some ballistae and some cavaliers in a air galley, making a stack that is nearly impossible to kill.


Strategies:


The Human rush

The humans aren’t a really good rushing race, though they aint’ slow, their lvl1 units don’t have the destructive power that the orcs, or halflings have on lvl1, the only unit that is good in rushes is the pikeman, some brute force + first strike rocks. Get lots of pikemen and archers and maybe some swordsmen, without pikemen the rush wouldn’t be nearly as effective.

The Human Cavalier “rush”

The Human cavalier is one of the most effective Human units in the game, as soon as you get your first 3-Hex town, upgrade it and produce lots of cavaliers, one cavalier is powerful enough to stop 6-8 lvl1 units,

The Air galley tactic.

Put some cavaliers and ballistas in a air galley, if you need it somewhere, you can transport it there in a matter of turns, and defeat almost anything, but there is a major drawback; It takes a lot of turns to build an air galley and some cavaliers(+ those ballistae).


Conclusion:

The Humans are an average race, but average doesn’t always mean weak, they have some really good units, and only a few their units are bad.

This article was written by Silver_Dragon with the help of the gamers at the AowHeaven forum.(Especially Thomato)