March at Dawn Walkthrough

You start in the north-west park of a Creon city with one Mechanic and three Mana Refineries. Aramon holds the east of the city with 80 units, Verunan troops among them. The briefing asks you to build twelve Mana Amplifiers and keep them for ten minutes. The mission's data names a different win, destroying every enemy unit, and the mission runs a script of its own. That script may be what checks the Amplifiers, and it may add events that this guide does not list. Plan for both goals.

The contest is for sacred sites. Twelve are free at the start, exactly as many as you need, and from 20:00 an Aramon Acolyte sets out to cover them with Divine Lodestones. Two attacks are timed: a Verunan landing in the south at 30:00, and at 45:00 a Knight, guarded by a Gold Dragon, that goes for every Mana Amplifier. In the east, 33 Aramon units stand by until a particular unit is attacked. The mission sets the same forces at every difficulty.

The Battlefield

The northern half of the map is a paved city with walled parks, and most sacred sites lie inside the parks. The southern half is open country, with a river in the south-west where the Verunan transport waits. Aramon's army fills the east side of the city. Its Barracks, a Verunan Enclave and the Gold Dragon stand in the far south-east corner. The streets are full of civilians, and 5 Giant Boars stand in the south.

Map of March at Dawn 12345678ABCDEFGHI
The planEnemy positionsYour unitsEnemy unitsNeutralHover a dot to see the unit and its orders. · Map 6,176 × 6,272 pixels · Scroll or pinch on the map to zoom; drag to move. Hover over a feature or a resource for its details.
  • 1Your start: the Mechanic and 3 Mana Refineries.
  • 2A 2.0 site. A 1.0 site lies west of it at (1200, 2544).
  • 3Two 1.0 sites, at (3136, 1552) and (3024, 2160).
  • 4A 2.0 site.
  • 5A 1.5 site.
  • 6A 2.0 site, among the Giant Boars.
  • 7Hold this ground at 30:00. The Verunan builder puts her first buildings here.
  • 8A 1.5 site at (4048, 1680) and a 2.0 site at (4144, 2208), next to Aramon's fort.
  • AThe Acolyte. From 20:00 he builds Divine Lodestones on 12 sites.
  • B6 Assassins, with 2 more at (5600, 1456). They wait until the Acolyte is attacked.
  • CA Titan hunting the civilians, guarded by 3 Barbarians and 3 Mage Archers.
  • DA Mage Builder raising a walled fort.
  • E4 Knights and 4 Mage Archers. They patrol from here to the north edge and back.
  • FThe patrol passes here on its way to (3728, 112).
  • GA Transport Ship with 10 Amazon Knights, 2 Priests of Lihr and 2 Priestesses aboard, guarded by 3 Skiffs.
  • HWhere the Verunan troops come ashore at 30:00.
  • IA Knight guarded by a Gold Dragon. At 45:00 the Knight attacks every Mana Amplifier.

The Enemy Timetable

Time What happens
From the start The Titan at C hunts the city's Vagrants, Shopkeepers, Refugees, Serfs and Field Hands, with its 6 guards. The patrol from E walks to the north edge and back. The Mage Builder at D starts a fort: 35 wall sections, then 5 Strongholds, 5 Watch Towers and a Keep.
20:00 The Acolyte at A sets out to build Divine Lodestones, in this order: (5200, 1088), (4048, 1680), (4144, 2208), (3024, 2160), (3136, 1552), (2112, 2672), (1200, 2544), (960, 3584), (2800, 3744), (2816, 5840), (3776, 5472) and (5008, 5792).
30:00 The Transport Ship at G sails up the river and unloads near H. One Priestess then builds a Lighthouse at (2928, 4928), an Enclave at (2528, 4864), a Citadel at (2944, 4912), Mortars at (3040, 5056) and (2416, 4016), a second Lighthouse at (2416, 3904) and an Enclave at (544, 3088). The Amazon Knights and one Priest of Lihr guard her. The other Priest walks to (5200, 5840), the other Priestess to (2848, 5968).
45:00 The Knight at I attacks every Mana Amplifier, and the Gold Dragon guarding him goes too.
When attacked See Traps: the Acolyte, the Assassins, three Rolling Towers and two Titans each hold other units back.

The Plan

Build Up (0:00 to 20:00)

  1. Have the Mechanic build a Smithy, then an Academy. The Academy trains the Chief Engineer, the only unit here that builds Mana Amplifiers. The Smithy makes more Mechanics and Tortoises.
  2. Put Amplifiers on the 2.0 sites at 2 and 4 first, then on (1200, 2544), 3, 5 and 6. Mechanics can help a Chief Engineer build. Do not spend free sites on Mana Refineries: there are exactly 12 free sites, and you need 12 Amplifiers.
  3. Put Gatling Crossbows at 3. The patrol from E walks between 3 and 8, and a Gatling Crossbow (range 600) out-ranges its Mage Archers (550).
  4. Send Tortoises against the Mage Builder at D while he is still laying walls. A Tortoise reaches 805, and the fort's Strongholds 600. The 2.0 site at (4144, 2208) is inside the fort's reach, so take it only when the fort is gone. The 1.5 site at (4048, 1680) is outside it.
  5. If the Titan's group comes near your parks, kill its Barbarians and Mage Archers, but leave the Titan itself until your Academy and Smithy are guarded.

The Race for Sites (20:00 to 30:00)

  1. At 20:00 the Acolyte leaves A. His first three targets are in the east; then he comes west for 3, 2, (1200, 2544), 4 and 5. Every site you hold first is a site he cannot use.
  2. You will need him dead in the end, but attacking him starts a chain: 8 cloaked Assassins come for your Amplifiers, Refineries and builders, and each of 6 of them wakes a Rolling Tower when attacked. Strike only when Tortoises guard every Amplifier and Prismatic Mirrors cover your bases. The Rolling Towers move at 0.55 and reach 525; Tortoises and Mirrors out-range them.
  3. Any site he does take is not lost. His Divine Lodestones have 15,092 hit points, and destroying one frees its site.

The Landing (30:00)

  1. Before 30:00, gather Tortoises and Shock Troopers at 7. When the troops land at H, kill the Priestess who starts to build. She has 2,300 hit points and no weapon. Without her, none of the buildings in her orders go up. One of them is a Mortar at (2416, 4016), which would reach your Amplifiers at 2, 5 and 6.
  2. The Amazon Knights' spears reach 320, less than a Shock Trooper's 400 or a Tortoise's 805, so fight them at range. Once the landing is beaten, put Amplifiers on the southern sites at (2816, 5840) and (3776, 5472).

Hold Twelve (45:00 Onwards)

  1. At 45:00 the Knight at I sets off for your Mana Amplifiers with the Gold Dragon. Tortoises cannot hit flying units; Prismatic Mirrors (1,478) and Gatling Crossbows (600) can. Ring the southern and eastern Amplifiers with them, and kill the Knight (5,911 hit points) as soon as it is in reach.
  2. Keep all twelve Amplifiers standing for ten minutes. If the mission does not end, the data's own win still holds: destroy every enemy unit.

Which Units Beat Theirs

Enemy unit Its threat Your answer
Assassin Cloaked; dagger, 710 damage, range 175; 500 hit points Troops beside every Amplifier
Rolling Tower Ballista, 1,105 damage, range 525; 16,000 hit points; speed 0.55 Tortoises (805) or Prismatic Mirrors (1,478)
Gold Dragon Flies; Fire Ball, 845 damage, range 700; 23,999 hit points Prismatic Mirrors and Gatling Crossbows
Cannoneer Cannon, 2,000 damage, range 600; speed 0.55 Tortoises
Grenadier Explosive, 1,003 damage, range 503 Tortoises
Knight Sword, 750 damage; 5,911 hit points; speed 3.3 Shock Troopers (752 damage, range 400)
Mage Archer Arrows, 476 damage, range 550 Gatling Crossbows (600)
Amazon Knight Spear, 301 damage, range 320 Shock Troopers or Tortoises

Mana

The map has 22 sacred sites. Your 3 Refineries stand on sites rated 1.0, 1.0 and 1.5, so they make 35 mana a second. Aramon has 6 Lodestones on sites and Veruna one, at (1296, 5856). The other 12 are free: the ones at 2 to 6 and 8, (1200, 2544), (5200, 1088) next to the Acolyte, and (2816, 5840) and (3776, 5472) in the south.

A Mana Amplifier costs 9,352 and makes 20 mana a second times its site's rating. A Chief Engineer alone builds one in 145 seconds and draws about 65 mana a second while he does. Twelve cost 112,224 in all, and on the 12 free sites they would make 370 a second. Start on the 2.0 sites, where each Amplifier makes 40 a second, and put Mechanics on each job to finish it sooner.

Traps

  • Attacking the Acolyte at A sends 8 Assassins after your Mechanics, Chief Engineers and Barnstormers; 6 of them go for your Mana Amplifiers and Refineries first.
  • Attacking any of those 6 Assassins wakes a Rolling Tower that goes for your Aerial Juggernauts, Prismatic Mirrors, Gatling Crossbows, Bomb Sprinklers, Academies and Smithies. Attacking the Rolling Towers at (5584, 256), (5824, 1296) and (5920, 2464) brings 3 Grenadiers to guard each one.
  • Attacking the Titan at C sends 4 Cannoneers, each guarded by a Catapult, against your Academies, then your Smithies.
  • Attacking the Titan that guards the Rolling Tower at (5744, 2944) sends an Assassin from the south-east after your Chief Engineers.
  • At 45:00 the Knight goes for Mana Amplifiers only, with the Gold Dragon beside him. The briefing asks you to keep twelve for ten minutes, so do not let one fall.

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