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Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness Hints
Defending your base
A defense is perhaps the most vital thing in any war effort. With a good defense, you will have enough time to create a good offense. Depending on what mission you are on, you may know how to use different types of units. The most basic defense is a row of 4 or more Knights, then at least 6 Archers right behind them, in a single row. It is always good to have about 2 Ballistas behind the archers. They will always fire at the first guy, and unless the enemy is very slow, the shots will miss. But the shots WILL hit the area right behind the attacker, killing anything there. Ballistas are also great at killing Axethrowers and Archers, and sometimes an enemy will retreat once he sees the Ballista.
Once you get Churches, immedietely research Paladins, and then the "Healing" spell (only humans have this spell). Use the Heal spell to replenish your health after each attack, or during an attack if the need be. The Heal spell will enable you to focus on building an offense, because you will not need to continuously build defenders.
If you're playing as the nasty little Orcs, a defense is not as easy to maintain. If you're fast enough, the "Bloodlust" spell will enable you to kill attackers rather quickly, but it is pretty hard to cast it on your defenders in time before the attackers get to your defensive line. The "Rune" spell can be helpful. Place a line of Runes about 6 squares before defensive line. Be careful not to overlap Runes, as they will be wasted.
If you are playing a level where Dragons (or Gryphons) attack your town make sure you build Archers, and a lot of them. Check the section on Attacking in the Air for more about this.
Catapults are usually the only thing that would cause you to have your defensive line retreat. Catapults are slower than other units, so they probably get close after you have killed the other attackers. Depending on what I have, I will either send 2 Ballistas, or 2 to 3 Knights out to kill the Catapult. Make sure that the Knights don't go one after the other, or the 2nd or 3rd Knight will get hit with the blast. If you send Ballista, make them "move" toward the Catapult until the enemy fires. One of the Ballistas will probably get slightly hurt. After the Catapult fires, "stop" your units and they will automatically fire and get 2 direct hits, most likely destroying the Catapult. If for some reason you decide to send Archers or some other unit with a ranged attack, move them up next to the Catapult and the Catapult will over-shoot them. Cool, huh?
Build Gryphons as soon as you can, and keep them a little after your defensive line. If you see a group of enemies with no Axethrowers, Death Knights, or Dragons, send your Gryphons over and you could get a few easy kills, since most land units can not attack units in the air.
Build Towers (both kind) at all openings of your village. Keep a Grunt or Ogre by each one as well. Even though Towers are powerful, they can be crushed by an enemy Knight in no time. In addition, have some Trolls nearby.
When you come upon sea missions, enemies will ALWAYS send Transports full of guys. They will usually land in different spots, so they aren't predictable. Keep lots of guys in your village, and Towers everywhere!
In the sea, have your ships patrol. Send each one on a different route. If you can find Transports quickly enough, you may be able to destroy them before they reach your island.
If you play without the "fog of war" build flying machines as soon as you can, and explore the whole map. You will definitely be able to spot attacks early on if you play this way.
Since you cannot build walls in one-player (whazzup with that, Blizzard?) build a wall of Farms (yes, Farms) as a defense. Ogres will usually go for the first thing they see, and if they are (relatively) expendable, it allows you to get together the guys you have in town together to attack them. This may also distract them from any Cannon Towers you may have hidden behind them.
