Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness Hints

Mission 14: The Fall of Lordaeron

• Mission Objectives:
  
  - Destroy all that you behold in the name of the Horde!
  
  Hoo boy.  This is a tough one, and it took much effort to prevent myself from hunting for a shotgun and shooting my monitor.  There were several ugly curse words muttered by me when playing this final scenario.  Be tough.  Be vigilant.  The whole thing at the beginning is to make as many Peons as possible, and guard the island on the left with Cannon Towers, then a Barracks to make more Ogres.  After it's somewhat defended, you'll need several Guard Towers all around, to be protected from Gryphon attack.
  
  Okay now, you'll notice you have two forces.  On the right island, start building a Great Hall, Blacksmith, and Lumber Mill.  On the left island, make a Tower somewhere near the north edge, in between the trees.  This is where most enemies will attack.  The Guard Towers will hurt them a bit, but have your Grunts and Trolls help to attack.  The key here is Cannon Towers: once you have enough money, make at least 4 more Towers, all around.  Build a bunch of Guard Towers, too (but don't do that till later).  Those Guard Towers are important against Gryphons!.
  
  Now the east island, this is where most of your gold and lumber production will take place.  Build a Barracks on the left island first, then a Barracks on the other island (you'll need many, many Peons).  Upgrade to a Stronghold (on the west island) when you can, and build an Ogre Mound.  That might take a while, since you'll also need to be making Cannon Towers to defend the base on the left.  Train Ogres on the left island to fend off Paladin attacks, and to get any Ballistas.  Keep some Trolls to take care of any Gryphons, although the Guard Towers are more powerful.  If the town on the left is destroyed, restart, and most of all, learn from your mistakes.
  
  Next, build up both towns with adequate defenses -- on the right island, you'll want Guard Towers but not Cannon Towers.  If you search to the west on that island, you'll find a horde of enemies.  Take them out, once you get enough guys.   Death Knights will help, and at least 3 Catapults are in order.  When you've cleared that island, continue to build up defenses on both islands.
  
  When built up (again), build a Shipyard near the patch on the west side of the island.  Have a Flying Machine nearby, and at least 2 Guard Towers close (the enemy will attack your Shipyard almost right away with Submarines and Gryphons).  Start making a bunch of Destroyers to protect the Platform.   Upgrade, make more ships, continue to defend against more attacks, and repair all the Towers that will get damaged.
  
  Once you get about 5 Destroyers and 5 Juggernauts, go for the southeast corner of the enemy island.  Kill any ships in the way, and bring a Zeppelin!  On the shore, get rid of the Shipyard and any Transports.  Try to keep the Juggernauts out of the way while the Destroyers get the Gryphon.  And have the Juggernauts sink any attacking subs.  Now, you'll need to do the same with the opposite side.  If you have less than 4 Destroyers left, you'd better bring up some more.  You better bring more Juggernauts, too.  Get the Shipyard, the Subs, and any Transports.  With all this shore sweeping, those Ballistas will be a pain in the neck.
  
  With that done, you won't have to worry about any more Paladins or Ballistas attacking your islands but you still have to worry about Gryphons.  But here is your assault on the island.  The oil patch near your left island is probably gone, so put a new Shipyard near the one slightly north of the east island .  Put at least 2 Destroyers, and a Guard Tower close by.  Now, make 4 Transports, amd put lots of guys in there.  Like what, you say?  Try 8 Death Knights,  2 Catapults, 4 Trolls, and the rest Ogres.   Move these Transport to the southeast part of the enemy island (where that first Shipyard was).  You should see a Barracks there.  The Catapults will destroy the Towers, and the Death Knight should cast Death and Decay on the Barracks.  The Ogres should get the Paladins, and either have any other Death Knights cast Death Coil on the Gryphons, or have the Trolls kill them.
  
  With the Barracks now destroyed, the next target is that Gryphon Aviary.  Have the rest of the Death Knights cast Death and Decay, and have the Ogres ready to take care of the Paladins (they will continously try to Exorcise your Death Knights, so get them quickly).  The Catapults should help ridding this level of that Aviary, too.  With that gone, it's onto the Mage Tower.  The Mages usually only cast Slow on your guys if they're close, so don't worry too much.  With the Mage Tower gone, the final thing to get in this strike is the Barracks on the east side of the island.  If you have enough guys left to take care of this...great.  If not, send up some more.  With that out of the way, the level's almost done.
  
  Send more Ogres and Catapults, as well as a Peon, to build a Barracks on their island (the reason we didn't do this before is that they'd get
  
  

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