Combat

Combat is a general term for hostile encounters of a hero while wandering on adventure map. Combat takes place typically when a hero attacks wandering creatures, enemy heroes, enemy towns or certain adventure map locations (e.g. creature banks). A hero may also face combat if trying to pick up a guarded artifacts or resources. Occasionally an event can trigger combat.

The purpose of the combat is to vanquish all enemy creatures, and the combat ends when either one of the armies are entirely destroyed, or when one of the heroes retreats or surrenders. Only heroes may retreat or surrender - wandering creatures, creatures guarding something or creatures in events cannot retreat or surrender. Wandering creatures may try to flee before the battle, but never during combat. Surrendering may occur only in a battle between heroes, but a hero defending a town cannot surrender (or flee). However, Stronghold has a unique building called Escape Tunnel, which allows defending hero to retreat and surrender.

Combat takes place on the battlefield, that is 11 rows of 15 hexagonal frames (hexes). Because size of most the creatures is one hex, a creature with speed of 13 can traverse across the battlefield to attack another creature stack directly opposite to that creature. Additionally, a creature with a speed of 19 can traverse diagonally from one corner to its opposite corner.

Order in Combat

Combat proceeds in rounds. Each hero can cast one spell each round. Each round is divided into three phases:

1. Initial
2. Morale & wait
3. Wait

These three phases occur every round in this chronological order. In the initial phase, all creatures move in order determined by their speed. The creature with the highest speed value moves first. If two or more creatures on different sides of engaging armies have the same speed value, the creature on the army which did not have the latest chance to act will act first. And if it is the beginning of the battle, the attacker will have the initiative.

A creature may wait during the initial phase, in which case the creature moves instead during the wait phase. However, due high morale a creature may recieve another chance to move right after the initial move. In this case, if the creature waits it will move move again during the morale & wait phase (before the wait phase). In contrast to the initial phase, creatures in the morale & wait and wait phases move in reverse order, slowest speed value first.

If two or more creatures on different sides of engaging armies have the same speed value, the creature on the army which did not have the latest chance to act will act first. This rule will apply in the same way throughout all three phases. However, there are two exceptions to this rule.

1. In the first round of combat, the attacker will have the initiative.
2. During a siege (town with at least Fort) the attacker will always moves first at the beginning of the round if the fastest creatures are tied.

Note that this rule in the morale-wait/wait phases leads to a situation, where the player that acted last "wins" the tie in a way, because during the wait phase, one usually wants to move later in the phase, not earlier.

If two or more creatures on the same side have the same speed value, the creature that started in the leftmost slot, will always move first. Or in other words, the unit that started nearest to the top of the screen (before tactics phase), will move first.

Related articles

• Formation