Burn the shadows - walkthrough | The Elven Court Campaign AoW III Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
Conditions of victory:
1. Edward must survive
2. Julia must survive
3. Nomlik must survive
4. Imprison Leonus and Saridas
This mission is an offshoot of the choice that you made in mission four and it becomes available if you gave decided to prevent the war (Stop the war) and completed the Underground Eruption. Your mission will be to defeat two main leader of the opposing sides - Leonus and Saridas. To make things more difficult, you need to attack them with a special wand, which you need pick up from the ground, right after the game starts. Additionally you are waging war against everybody around and you are trapped between the warring parties. So, here is a lot to come.
Start by clearing the area around your cities, so as to ensure them with peaceful development. Around, there also are lots of independent lands, which would be good to capture, best by completing quests, or by force, if it comes to that (most probably, there will be not enough gold to buy the lands).
Ensure appropriate development of the cities, recruit defensive units to station them in the cities and, if possible, also cavalry, which you should use to dissipate the fog of war. The greatest difficulty lies not in defeating the enemies, but in finding them with an army sizeable enough and with Sundren equipped with the wand. As for, Leonus look for him in the East, and for the Elven king, Saridas, in the West. It is impossible to say, with all certainty where they are, but most probably they will be around that regions, or they will be hasting towards the center of the map. It seems to be a good idea to capture the city of an enemy and wait, in hope that they bring reinforcements and attempt to recapture the lost city.
After you have located either of the main enemies, the thing is going to be simple - you need to attack and fight a battle with them. Also, the leader with the wand must participate, who needs to attack the enemy leader with a melee attack, before using the wand, which will change his respawn place (otherwise he will return to his Throne City). Also, you need to remember that, during the battle, you do not need to win, what is important is defeating the main enemy. He will then be placed in a "cage" in the undergrounds. Repeat that action with the other of the enemies and the mission will be completed.
Hints
1. Secure cities and their regions. Nearby, you will find many enemies on occupied structures. Defeating the enemies will ensure temporary peace and will support the development of the cities.
2. Try to capture independent cities. This will strengthen your position and allow you to produce new, fresh and more expensive units.
3. Locate your main opponents as quickly as possible, do not bother with their allies. What you should be interested in is Saridas, to the West and Emperor Leonus, staying in the Eastern corner of the map. If you find yourself incapable of finding them, seize a city. There is a chance that they will lead the counterattack themselves and then you will be able to attack.
4. Edward appears after the end of the tenth turn, around your Throne City. He will bring quite an army along, which you can use to clear the region or as a support in the battle against Sundren. Before Edward arrives, also Julia will come with a sizeable army.
5. Close to your Throne City there is a Dwelling, that you might be interested in. It will allow you to produce quite interesting units (Dragon).
6. Try to dispatch as many units as you can, into all corners of the map, so as to be able to see as much of it as possible, at the same time. This will help you locate the enemy units and, with a bit of luck, you might also be able to find your main enemies.