PC/CD Gamer UK 43/PCGAMER43.bin/walkthru/warhamer.txt

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Warhammer: Shadow Of The Horned Rat

This guide to Warhammer: Shadow Of The Horned Rat is split into two sections.
First thereÆs a short list of general hints and tips for playing the game and then
thereÆs a brief discussion of the different opponents youÆll face.

The art of war
Although the different missions you must complete vary widely, there are some
things that you should always bear in mind throughout the game...

Managing your forces
The first and most important rule is to save your game after every successful
mission. ItÆs easy to win æPyrrhic victoriesÆ in Shadow Of The Horned Rat, where
you may complete a mission but lose so many troops that it becomes very hard to
succeed in the next. ItÆs also vital that you manage your forces efficiently and
spend as little money as possible, so even if you win a battle hands down, it might
be worth going back and trying it with fewer regiments.

Likewise, remember to check your troops roster after every battle and hire any
replacement troops that may be available. ItÆs vital to keep your regiments as near
to maximum capacity as possible if youÆre going to succeed.

Remember that you can take only 13 regiments into a battle, but those that you
donÆt use still have to be paid. Although the amounts are small, they quickly add
up. If you find that youÆre just not using a regiment, fire it. The savings will be
worth it.

DonÆt underestimate the importance of experience. A fully experienced (6,000
points or more) regiment is a killing machine in comparison to its starting
statistics, and units like this are vital later in the game. For this reason, try to use
the same regiments as much as possible, and donÆt ærotate dutyÆ unless you have
to. ItÆs better to have a few experienced units than an army full of ones with a few
hundred points each.

Battles
Although time is frozen during the deployment phase at the beginning of a battle,
the Winds of Magic are still active. If youÆre going to be starting in a position
where you can use spells within the first minute of the battle, itÆs worth waiting
for a lot of magic points to appear before starting the mission.

Learn to judge the range of the different spells and missile weapons that you have
available. Each is different, and itÆs worth taking the time to get a feel for how far
you can fire. In particular, thereÆs nothing more annoying than trying to cast a
spell and finding that youÆre out of range - the magic points used are wasted.

DonÆt end a mission just because the æmission completeÆ message appears. Often
there will still be routing troops on the map, and they still count as kills for
experience. Likewise, many missions have magic items hidden on the battlefield,
and nowÆs the time to search for them.
What youÆre looking for is a sparkling point of white on the ground, which
appears about once every 30 seconds or so. Remember to look behind things
using the rotate buttons, and search the battlefield carefully.

Tactics
In order to succeed in Warhammer: Shadow Of The Horned Rat, you have to be
able to win battles at minimal cost to your forces. The first thing to remember
here is that the enemy will nearly always attack you - even when in a defensible
position, the computer will send its forces to attack yours. DonÆt be in too much
of a hurry to send yours out to meet them.
Instead, take the opportunity to riddle the enemy with arrows and spells. By
keeping your melee troops in place, you can often significantly weaken the enemy
at no cost to yourself.
There are battles where this tendency of the computer to keep coming at you can
be even more helpful, such as in the dragonÆs lair under Zufbar (see the Escort
Engrol Goldentongue mission, below).

Likewise, close combat is dangerous because your troops can be killed. Your aim
should always be to finish fights as quickly as possible, and the best way to do
this is to force the enemy unit to rout. A routing unit is virtually defenceless, and
can be hacked to pieces easily by your pursuing regiment.
To force a rout, you need to do as much damage as possible as quickly as you can,
and this is where charging is important. A charging unit hits first and gets a
strength bonus, meaning that their hits will be more likely to cause wounds.
Always do everything you can to ensure that your regiments charge the enemy,
and not the other way around.

A good way to use this to your advantage is to charge the enemy with an infantry
unit while manoeuvring a cavalry unit to the enemyÆs side or rear, and charging it
again. The combined bonuses will almost certainly ensure that you do more
damage than your opponent, and even a tenacious regiment can be forced to rout
in this manner.

DonÆt underestimate the usefulness of magic. Always try to use every available
magic point in every magic cycle, and experiment with different tactics. Likewise,
donÆt
forget to use your swordÆs fireball attack once per cycle - you can even do this
while in melee combat.

Know thine enemy
In Shadow Of The Horned Rat your army will face a variety of foes, some more
dangerous than others. The three most common races that youÆll have to deal
with, though, are Goblins, Orcs, and Skaven. In the discussions below, the races
are compared to an average human soldier, such as a member of the
Grudgebringer Infantry.

Goblins
These are the weakest of the enemy races, and shouldnÆt present much of a threat.
Their low weapon skill makes them easy to hit in hand-to-hand combat, and their
low initiative means your troops will get their strikes in first. Combined with their
lack of armour, this makes it a simple job to hack them to pieces. Best of all,
Goblins have universally low leadership scores, making them easy to rout. Even
Goblin Wolf riders arenÆt too much of a threat, and rank as the weakest cavalry
unit in the game. Watch out for Goblin Archers, though, which can present
something of a nuisance - charge them down as soon as possible.

Fanatics
These are the only really nasty Goblins. Fanatics æhideÆ inside regiments of Night
Goblins, only revealing themselves when one of your regiments comes close.
Then they leap forward, swinging huge ball-and-chain weapons that scythe
through any unit in their path. Under no circumstances should you try to engage a
Fanatic in close combat - theyÆll just rip your regiment apart.
Instead, draw them out by moving a mounted regiment past them. Fanatics move
randomly once theyÆve revealed themselves, and most of the time theyÆll either
spin themselves off the map (maybe even killing a few enemies in the process), or
be killed by their own weapon. Pick off any persistent ones with missile fire or
magic.

Orcs
The traditional bad guys for any fantasy world, Orcs are bred for warfare, and
pose a lot more threat than their Goblin cousins. Your only real advantage is their
low initiative, which means that your troops will at least get their hits in first. The
average Orc is tougher than a human, though, making them harder to kill, and
their fair leadership scores make them difficult to rout. Finally, they tend to have
better armour than Goblins. Combined with their sheer numbers this can make
even normal Orc regiments dangerous.
The real threat, though, comes from Black Orcs and Big æUns. Black Orcs have
better weapon skills, ar stronger, and have better leadership scores than humans.
So theyÆre more likely to hit, more likely to inflict damage, and are more likely to
rout your forces than to run away themselves. Except for their average leadership,
Big æUns share these advantages - but they have higher initiative than normal
Orcs, so you lose the advantage of striking first. If at all possible, avoid getting
your infantry units into melee with either of these types of Orc, and use your
stronger Cavalry units instead. If you canÆt avoid it,
try to ╘double teamÆ, by attacking with two units at once and out-numbering
them.

Skaven
These chaos worshipping ratmen are your true foe in Shadow Of The Horned Rat,
and before you finish the game youÆll have killed literally hundreds of them. The
average Skaven has two advantages over human troops - they move faster, and
they have higher initiative, so they hit first in close combat. Balanced against this,
though, is their low leadership - like real rats, Skaven are cowardly, and this
makes them easy to rout. Considering the number that you normally face, this is
just as well.
The trick to defeating Skaven is to use this weakness. By concentrating your
missile fire on the nearest unit, you can normally force them to rout. Immediately
switch targets to the next unit, and do the same. With a little luck youÆll be able to
rout one or two more regiments before the first rallies, at which point you simply
start shooting it again. In this manner you can hold off a much larger force of
Skaven for some time, whittling their numbers down so that when you are finally
forced into close combat, you stand a much better chance of winning.
The Skaven to watch for are the elite Stormvermin. These guys are stronger and
have better weapon skills than a human, making them nasty opponents. However,
they still suffer from low leadership scores, so the above tactic works just fine.

Rat Ogres
These hulking brutes pop up quite often, and if left unchecked can wipe out whole
regiments. WhatÆs more, they cause æfearÆ, and so can force your troops to rout
just be charging at them. Luckily, thereÆs a simple answer to Rat Ogres - the
Amber Wizard, Allor. His hunting spear spell drops them in their (rather large)
tracks almost every time.

Warpfire Throwers
A bizarre blend of technology and magic, this Skaven invention can fire arcs of
deadly green energy across the battlefield, and explodes when destroyed. For this
reason you shouldnÆt get into close combat with one - use magic or missile fire to
blow it up from a distance, and make them priority targets, as a direct hit from one
of their beams can kill a lot of soldiers with frightening ease.


The (shortish) Road to Victory
This is a step-by-step guide to one of the shortest practical routes to winning
Shadow Of The Horned Rat. Because of this, though, itÆs not necessarily the
easiest. By skipping many of the optional missions available you miss out on
many new regiments, reinforcements, magic items and, of course, experience
points. It is, theoretically, possible to finish the game in even less time, but the
more optional missions you skip, the tougher it gets.
For each battle thereÆs a map showing the locations of any magical items, as well
as an example army and initial deployment. Remember that these are only
suggestions, and there are often several different strategies that will work for a
given battle, so feel free to experiment. The note æreinforcements availableÆ
indicates that you can hire replacement troops before the mission begins.

Protect Schnappleburg
Take both of your units, and deploy them as shown. When the mission starts,
attack the Goblins with the Grudgebringer Infantry. Move the Cavalry to the
north-west, then turn them towards the north-east and theyÆll spot a unit
of Goblin Wolfriders. Attack them with the Cavalry, remembering to use the
swordÆs fireball. ThatÆs all there is to it. Once the mission is complete, get the
Sword of Might - its location is marked with an æXÆ.

The Sword of Might
This magical weapon increases the strength of its wielder, making his blows more
likely to inflict wounds in combat. ItÆs probably best to give this to Lieutenant
Schepke, so use the Grudgebringer Infantry to pick it up.

Escort to Holst (Reinforcements available)
There are two ambushes in this mission, one on the way to Holst, the other on the
return journey. Take both regiments, and when the first ambush starts, attack the
visible Goblins with your Cavalry, then move the Infantry to the north-east. As
soon as the next enemy regiment becomes visible, attack with the Infantry.
When the Cavalry defeat the Goblins, move them east across the map, crossing
ahead of the first caravan. By the time the third and final enemy regiment appears,
the Infantry should have finished off their opponents, so
use them to charge the last unit, and then bring the Cavalry in behind and charge
from the rear.
Once at Holst, you can once again hire reinforcements, and a unit of Mercenary
Crossbowmen is available for hire.
When the second ambush begins, your newly hired Crossbowmen are on the
wrong side of the caravan. Immediately move the Cavalry into the wagonsÆ path,
blocking their movement, and then attack the bottom-right enemy regiment with
the Infantry.
Move the Crossbowmen north, past the Cavalry and caravans, and fire on the
enemy regiments as they appear in the north-east of the map - donÆt forget to use
the CavalryÆs fireball attack as well. With a little luck you should be able to rout
all the enemy with missile fire. Use the Cavalry and Infantry (once theyÆve
finished off their opponents) to mop up any survivors.

Sven Carlsson (Reinforcements available)
Take all three regiments, and deploy as shown. The important things to remember
here are that you canÆt prevent the Skaven assassin from killing Hiln, and neither
can you kill the assassin, so forget about them.
As soon as the battle starts, attack HilnÆs bodyguard with the Cavalry. By the time
they finish them off, the assassin should have fled, and three regiments of Skaven
warriors will arrive in the south-east corner of the map. Use your Crossbowmen to
shoot the Skaven, while moving the Cavalry down to help. Mop up the surviving
Skaven with the Infantry and Cavalry, once again trying to pin them with the
Infantry, then charge them in the back with the Cavalry.
Finally, get the Dragon Blade from the snowman behind the tower in the north-
east corner.

The Dragon Blade
The Dragon Blade is a magical sword that causes any hits made by its wielder to
count as two. ItÆs probably best to give it to your Cavalry, so pick it up with them.

Patrol
Take all three units, and reverse the standard marching order, so that the
Crossbowmen lead and the Cavalry bring up the rear. Two ambushes will occur,
both involving three regiments of Skaven warriors. Use the Crossbowmen to
pepper the enemy units with arrows as described in the æSkavenÆ section above,
while moving the Cavalry off to one side (donÆt forget the fireball!). Use the
Cavalry and Infantry together to deal with the surviving Skaven.
ThereÆs quite a bit of luck involved in these missions, as to whether or not the
Skaven rout and how quickly they rally, so be prepared to try it a few times.

Rescue Illmarin (Reinforcements available)
Take all three regiments. On the way to the battle youÆll encounter Allor, an
Amber Wizard whoÆll work for you for free. Once there, deploy as shown. In this
mission it doesnÆt really matter what happens to the Dwarves - even if the
regiment gets killed, you still speak to them afterwards, so donÆt worry too much
about æsavingÆ them.
Be sure to wait for a lot of magic points, then begin the battle. Set the
Crossbowmen firing at the lower left group of Skaven warriors, and when the Rat
Ogre gets closer let him have it with a Hunting Spear from Allor. Immediately
move him north a bit, and try to cast a Curse of Anrahier on the Stormvermin. If
the Skaven warriors havenÆt routed yet, attack them with the Infantry, and use the
Cavalry to charge the rear of the Skaven fighting the Dwarves. Once the Infantry
are finished, send them north and attack any surviving Skaven.
Finally, get the Shield of Ptolos from behind the trees at the far west of the map.

The Shield of Ptolos
This magical shield protects its bearer from missile weapons of all kinds. As such,
you can happily give it to any of your regiments. Generally, though, the Cavalry
are a good bet, as theyÆre more likely to be used to charge missile units in later
battles.

Orc Pursuit (Reinforcements available)
This is the first really tough battle. There are a lot of Orcs to deal with, and
several ways to go about it. The following is a risky plan, but if it works, it lets
you win with minimal losses. Again, donÆt worry too much about the Dwarves.
Before the mission begins, hire the Black Avengers, then take all your regiments
with you, and deploy as shown. As the battle begins, move the Cavalry and
Infantry down the eastern side of the map, stopping to the east of the small clump
of trees. While theyÆre moving, cast the Curse of Anrahier on the Orc Big æUns
that appear on the western side of the map, then shoot them with the
Crossbowmen and Hunting Spear spells.
Meanwhile, to the east, the Black Orcs should have continued to move west while
the Orc Boys turn towards your Infantry. Charge them with the Infantry, then
charge them in the rear with the Cavalry. Back on the western side, when the Orc
Boys overtake the æcursedÆ Big æUns, attack them with Illmarin and the Black
Avengers.
Once the fight on the eastern edge is over (which shouldnÆt take long) send the
Cavalry into the centre of the map to help the Dwarves, and attack the Archers by
the bridge with the Infantry. When Illmarin and the Avengers finish of the Orc
Boys, send them into the centre to help out the Cavalry. Phew.

March to Zufbar
Time to help the Dwarves. Take only the Cavalry, Allor and the Crossbowmen
with you. At FinnÆs Rest, hire reinforcements and the jolly hard VannheimÆs 75th.
When you reach the entrance to the Underway, youÆll have to fight a small band
of Goblins. The only danger here is from the Fanatics hidden in the two Night
Goblin regiments. Move your Cavalry and the 75th north, then cut across the path
of the Night Goblin units. Judge the timing right, and the Fanatics will surge
forward, while your two units move off to the side. Pick off any persistent
Fanatics with the Crossbowmen and Allor, then order the Cavalry and the 75th to
charge the Night Goblins. Attack the Goblin Spearmen with the Dwarves, target
the Archers with your Crossbowmen, and send Allor north to give the Goblin
Shamen a nice shiny Hunting Spear. Simple.
In the Underpass youÆll be attacked by Squig Riders - imagine a Goblin on the
back of a very large living Space Hopper, and youÆll get the picture. These guys
are a real pain, and thereÆs little point in trying to engage them in melee combat -
they just jump up and splat you. Instead, pick them off with Hunting Spear spells
and arrows, while moving the rest of your units to the south-east corner of the
map, out of harmÆs way. A lot here depends on the luck of the Winds of Magic -
get enough and Allor can mop up the Squig Riders easily - so be prepared to
reload a couple of times.
Finally, ignore the honour mission and continue to Zufbar itself.

Slave Assault
This looks tough, but because the Skavenslaves are so wimpy, itÆs actually not a
very hard mission. Take your Cavalry, the 75th, Allor and your Crossbowmen.
YouÆll also be given a regiment of Dwarven Crossbowmen and a regiment of Iron
Breakers. Deploy as shown, and gleefully pepper the Skavenslaves with arrows.
You should be able to kill most of them like this, but use the Cavalry and 75th to
mop up. Once the first batch is killed, move your Cavalry north until the gate in
the top west opens, then bring them back down again. Use Allor to take care of
the Rat Ogres, and decimate the last two Skavenslave regiments in whatever
fashion takes your fancy. Finally, get the Banner of Might from the rocks at the
northern end of the map.

The Banner of Might
This magical standard increases the strength of every soldier in its unit, and as
such is a very powerful item. Either your Cavalry or the 75th should be the bearer,
making them great ╘shock troopsÆ for dealing with tough opponents.

Escort Engrol Goldentongue
Take only your Cavalry on this mission - youÆll be given Ceridan, the envoy, a
unit of Hammerers and Gotrek Gurnisson as well. When the mission starts,
Gotrek, a confirmed psychopath, will charge the dragon - thereÆs nothing you can
do to stop him. Run Ceridan past the fight, using the manual Charge button if
necessary to avoid the flames, and continue moving him north until he spots the
Orcs. Then simply run him south, back past the dragon, and wait. The Orcs will
trudge south, straight into the dragonÆs flames, and rout, running north. Then
theyÆll rally, and like good little Orcs, come back for more.
Eventually some will probably get through, so just hack the survivors to pieces
with your Cavalry, and when all the Orcs are dead or have left the map, run
Ceridan north once more to finish the battle.
After a bit more travel, youÆll stop in Averheim. Reinforcements are available
here, as are KeelerÆs Longbows, so hire them as well.
Between Averheim and Nuln youÆll encounter a wolf attack on a Bright Wizard.
Use your Cavalry to deal with the single ærovingÆ pack (which starts just to the
east of the magician), and then pick off the rest with the Longbows. The wizard,
Luther Flamestrike, will join you.

March to Loren
(Reinforcements available)
Finally youÆll reach Nuln and see the Emperor himself, as well as getting the
chance to hire some new units. Both cannon crews are something of a must for
later missions, so be sure to hire them. Upon choosing the ╘March to LorenÆ
mission youÆll also receive a regiment of Reiksguard Knights. Take the Knights,
your Cavalry, the 75th, Crossbowmen, Longbows and both Wizards with you.
YouÆll also meet a Celestial Wizard on the way, who will join you, then youÆll be
ambushed by a lot of Skaven.
Charge the regiments that attack from the north with all three mounted regiments,
while moving the Crossbowmen, Longbows and both Wizards to the east. Use
these units to deal with the Skaven reinforcements that arrive from the south-east
corner of the map.

Extermination
ItÆs vital that you complete this mission, or youÆll be ambushed twice more on the
way to Loren. Take your Cavalry, the 75th, Crossbowmen, Longbows, Allor and
Luther, and the Hammerers. YouÆll be given three dwarf Gyrocopters and a unit
of Dwarven warriors.
Deploy as shown, and use the æcopters as much as possible. Their steam cannons
seem to have no rate of fire limit, and so you can fire as quickly as you can click
the mouse. The bombs, while inaccurate, can wipe out a whole unit of
Skavenslaves in a single direct hit. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for the
æcopters to get involved in hand-to-hand combat, so be careful.
If any Skaven make it to the mouth of the passageway with the rest of your army,
let æem have it with missiles and magic. As soon as the coast is clear, run Allor
forward to use his Hunting Spear against the two Grey Seers. Finally, destroy all
nine Skaven æbolt-holesÆ by attacking them, and get the Dread Banner from the
south-east corner of the cave.

The Dread Banner
This standard gives the unit that carries it the ability to instill fear in opponents,
and thus gives them a chance to force any enemy regiment to rout simply by
charging them. Perhaps even more handily, though, it makes the unit that carries it
immune to fear. As such, either the 75th or your Cavalry are a good choice to
carry it, as they will then become a useful æmonster killingÆ unit.

To Loren
Provided you completed Extermination, there is little chance of an ambush on the
way, so take as few units as possible.

Poisoned Wind
Take both cannons, the Crossbowmen, Longbows, Allor and whichever unit you
gave the Dread Banner to. YouÆll also be given some Wood Elf Archers and a
Treeman.
The objective here is to avoid melee combat, as the Plague Monks almost
continually emit black vapours similar to the Skaven Pestilent Breath spell. So,
blow them to bits with the cannon, pepper them with arrows and force routs with
the Treeman and Dread Banner if any of them get too close. There are a lot a
Plague Monks, but a direct hit with a cannon will kill nearly a whole regiment,
and the Wood Elf Archers are accurate and have an incredible rate of fire...

Rescue High Elder
Nearly there - the end is in sight. Take your Cavalry, the 75th, the Knights,
Hammerers, Allor and Marius (the Celestial Wizard), as well as both cannons.
Deploy as shown, and once again let æem have it with the cannon and arrows.
Move the Knights and Treeman to the east and then attack any Stormvermin that
get too close with them, doing the same on the western flank with the 75th and
your Cavalry. Be sure to kill the pesky Grey Seer as soon as possible, either with
a Hunting Spear from Allor, or in close combat with Ceridan.

The Final Battle
Well, not quite. Take everything you can with you. On the way north youÆll meet
up with the Dwarves again, and get any of their units that survived Extermination.
Eventually youÆll decide to make for Nuln, but to get there youÆll have to deal
with that Orc Warlord that youÆve been hearing so much about.
This is a big, tough fight, and can be very tricky to win. Deploy on the hill as
shown, and try to do as much damage as possible from a distance. Use any
Gyrocopters to draw out the Goblin Fanatics as early as possible, then if youÆve
got time, try to use them to deal with the numerous War Machines.
The real danger here comes from the Orc Shaman on his Wyvern. You can try
peppering it with arrows, but youÆll be lucky to do much damage. Likewise,
AllorÆs Hunting Spears are a good bet, but you have to wait until itÆs landed for
them to hit - by which time youÆre normally in trouble. If you have enough time to
see it coming, your best bet is the unit with the Dread Banner, as theyÆll be
immune to the fear caused by the Wyvern. Even then, though, theyÆll take very
heavy losses...
If you defeat the Orcs, youÆll make your way to Nuln - the last stop before the
grand finale. Here youÆll have a chance to reinforce, and get some new units.
Which is just as well, because youÆll need them.
WeÆre not going to show you the last map - it would only spoil the fun. However,
there are some things to bear in mind. First of all, this battle is unlike any other in
the game, because the sole objective is to win - you donÆt have to worry about the
losses. If only one man remains standing, youÆll still win the game.
That said, donÆt go charging in willy-nilly. Your cannons are once more your best
friends here, as none of your other units has quite the same potential for large
scale carnage. Blow as many Skaven to bits as you can, then charge everything
youÆve got into the fray. Try to ædouble teamÆ enemy regiments with Infantry from
the fray and Cavalry from the side or rear where you can. Remember, the fate of
the world hangs on your decisions...