South Guard 2. Proven by the Sword

Feedback for the mainline campaign The South Guard.

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Tom_Of_Wesnoth
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Re: South Guard 2. Proven by the Sword

Post by Tom_Of_Wesnoth »

wrote:(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
1.14.7 on Solider/Normal.
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3. It was pretty easy, you can overwhelm the footpads between you and Westin early on, and then you've got a nice defensible castle on the river to hold off the first wave of undead. The main challenge was actually hitting the thieves in Westin on the 70% defence terrain, but with the free White Mage that can be dealt with simply enough.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Very clear.
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Well-written and clear. The character of Sir Loris is pretty well built up for someone who never appears on screen, and I like how he's used as a contrast to Deoran's more charismatic, dedicated style.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Dealing with the thieves in Westin. Elusivefoot on castles, oh my.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
7. It's simple, it's fun enough. I'm not a big fan of fighting undead with only pierce attacks really available, but having two leadership units and a healer (Deoran, Gerrick, Hylas) who also happen to have anti-undead attacks presented some interesting choices on how to position them. And free loyal units are always nice, even if they are just peasants.
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
I don't think much needs to change.
If presented with the opportunity, I would take great pleasure in becoming a world ruler.
Konrad2
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Re: South Guard 2. Proven by the Sword

Post by Konrad2 »

(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?

1.15.6, Soldier (Normal)

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)

3-6, depends on how fast you move to the keep of Westin. (With fast being better than slowly.)

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?

Clear.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?

I like that they don't just handwave that the 'lowly outlaws' are able to summon undead.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?

Moving to the Westin keep fast (enough).

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)

5, because fighting undead is quite frustrating with the units that are avaible.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?

Add some Heavy Infantry. :D

Scenario stats:
Spoiler:
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Apparos_Vaklas
Posts: 37
Joined: April 24th, 2021, 11:52 am

Re: South Guard 2. Proven by the Sword

Post by Apparos_Vaklas »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?

Version 1.14.16, Soldier (Normal) difficulty

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)

3

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?

Pretty clear.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?

9/10

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?

Got really unlucky with the two footpads and got a bit delayed in taking the city but it worked out in the end

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)

8

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?

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mal_shubertal
Posts: 93
Joined: December 1st, 2018, 6:58 pm

Re: South Guard 2. Proven by the Sword

Post by mal_shubertal »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
1.16.2 Soldier/hardest
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
6. You have to juggle a lot of priorities in this scenario: getting to the city fast, protecting villages, dealing with skeletons with mostly pierce attacks, crossing the river.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
very clear.
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
I liked the theme of you taking on the huge Urza bandit family one by one, and I like Deoran trying to figure out whether Sir Loris was somehow complicit in what's been going on or just super incompetent.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Dealing with skeletons with your mostly piercing units was the biggest challenge. They are a fun twist, but I had to restart from the first scenario because I didn't realize that, 1) levelled up bowmen and pikemen would be totally useless in the second scenario due to the skeletons, and 2) Deoran and Gerrick get crucial impact attacks when they level up. I'm not sure if there's a way to somehow hint at this in the first scenario without spoilers.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
7. I like this scenario a lot. The mix of enemy units forces you to think hard about your available units and use them to your best advantage. The terrain encourages you to use a combination of merfolk and ground troops. Weirdly, the thing I messed up most was getting to the city on time! It is harder than I expected to push through the footpads and thieves and get on the keep.
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Like I said, it's more of a campaign design question. Getting Deoran and Gerrick levelled up for their impact weapons is so crucial, but there's no way to know that on the first scenario on your first playthrough, which means a lot of people will need to go back and replay the first scenario once they figure it out. Maybe this is intentional, and I'm not really sure how to solve it. Maybe giving Deoran/Gerrick weak impact attacks at their starting levels would keep people from having such a hard time on the second scenario if they didn't prioritize levelling those units up in the first scenario.
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JL42
Posts: 66
Joined: December 9th, 2023, 11:19 am

Re: South Guard 2. Proven by the Sword

Post by JL42 »

What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
v. 1.16.10
Soldier / Normal
How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
4
How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Very clear.
How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
The dialogue and storyline are very well done.
What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
The main challenge is getting into the keep and setting up the city defenses before a lot of enemies from the south get inside the fortifications. The map is set up so that this is a very close thing – really well designed and balanced.
How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
8 – The whole setup with having to fight your way into the keep, then defend the city, then hunt down the enemy leader – plus the urgency of the plot and the appearance of the undead; it's all a really great scenario. Not super-difficult but interesting and engaging throughout.
What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
None. Seems perfect to me.

About the Overall Campaign:

In general this campaign is really well done. The story and writing quality are notable here; it draws me in right from the start, gives Deoran some background and character, and creates a sense of urgency and mystery about what is going on in the countryside. You can really see the hero developing across the scenarios as new realizations emerge and as the challenges he faces continue to become more significant.

Most of the maps are excellent as well, very thoughtfully designed, and the battles feel engaging and meaningful. The early scenarios are mostly simple and easy but then they become solidly difficult around #5 and #6. Nearly all of them have some kind of interesting happenings or combat complexities. Really just enjoyable to play.

The only thing that brings this down for me is the final two scenarios. (I'm reviewing the elf branch – never played the bandit branch since they are clearly scum and siding with them seems like it would be out of character for Deoran.) In the elf branch, the last two scenarios feel like a total afterthought and waste of time; you could wrap this up with an epilogue after scenario 6 and be better for it. The story aspects continue to be good in those final scenarios, but the actual gameplay is a massive letdown from the previous maps.

For me the campaign is 4 out of 5 stars; the only reason it doesn't get full marks is the boringness of the final two scenarios.
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