Rank II - Strategy | Units and Strategy Eador: MotBW Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
Reaching rank II creatures is a major breakthrough for the entire kingdom. Rank II units are noticeably better than their lesser counterparts, but at the same time require more financial outlays. Nevertheless, it's extremely beneficial to expand your empire because the bonuses you receive give back quickly, and stronger armies allow for fighting more dangerous battles and exploring unconquered areas.
The division into offensive and defensive strategies remains in play, though rank II enables using more diversified maneuvers. This is because this stage in the game opens access to effective units with a large movement range - Horsemen, Horse Archers, Pegasi, Centaurs - with which you can easily surround your enemies or get behind them. If you wish for a lot more flexibility, it's the absolute minimum to invest in at least one of these units. They will allow you to quickly react to the enemy's actions and strike at their weak points, for example uncovered archers or spellcasters.
Those of you who prefer offensive strategies should focus mainly on Thugs, Horsemen and Horse Archers - with such forces you will be truly hard to stop. On the other hand, it doesn't pay too well to hire Warlocks, at least not at once, because they die easily and become useful only after they've leveled up a bit. If possible, try to add some Centaurs and Giant Slugs, but if you don't have access to them, that's ok. The point of the offensive approach is to provoke the enemy to attack (preferably with Horse Archers) and finishing them off once they get in your range. It the meantime, it's also a good idea to position at least one mounted squad behind the enemy's back to eliminate its archers. Obviously, if you have Barbarians and Shamans (and you should have them for some time now), don't hesitate to use them as well - after all, they're the basis and the most numerous part of your army.
The situation is a little different if you're playing defensively. If so, invest most importantly in Monks and replace your Healers with Pikemen or ranged units. Surround your healing units with the aforementioned Pikemen, and fit the holes with Guardsmen. It would be also useful to have at least one Pegasus, which is perfect for flying over the enemy's army to strike its ranged or magic units. The whole point of the defensive strategy is to gradually break the enemy's forces using counterattacks and healing. The Monk's Inspiration ability also comes in handy if you want to regenerate the hero's Stamina (or an archer's leveled up to Bowman). An army constructed in such a way is characterized by low mortality rates and high effectiveness.
What about necromancy lovers? They should be happy about the new powerful units that come in the form of Ghouls. Ghouls can poison the enemy on attack, are pretty mobile and resistant, and deal some substantial damage. With its low requirements, it's a new quality to the undead army - simply level up Necromancy to level III and build a Necromancer's Guild to gain access to new spell. On the other hand, don't bother with the Chaos school of magic and its summoned demons; they're not too strong and suck the life out of mages themselves.