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Seven Kingdoms II is an intricate game with a less-than-gentle learning curve. Worse, the computer usually plays in an aggressive manner that can make it difficult to survive the early game, especially if you are subjected to the dreaded "Fryhtan rush." The following tips are chiefly aimed at new players playing a human kingdom, and will hopefully provide a foundation for more intricate strategies as you gain confidence with the game.

Money: The root of all kingdoms
Money is the lifeblood of your kingdom. Without it, your buildings will crumble into ruin; you will be unable to build new units, make repairs, hire mercenaries, or issue grants and honors. Later in the game, much of your income will come from loot won in battles, but ultimate success in Seven Kingdoms II relies on your initial ability to create and maintain a strong economy.

Towers of science can employ many people. This tower is getting its work force from two towns
There are several ways to make money. First, you should initiate trade with as many human kingdoms as you can. By establishing trade treaties with them, you invite their caravans to visit your markets and purchase goods from you. This is very profitable, but it does mean you must have goods to sell, and markets to sell them in!

Second, you can sell goods to your own citizens, by building markets within linking distance of your towns. Where the goods come from is unimportant; you will make more money if you can produce the goods yourself, but if there are no convenient resources to be exploited, import the goods from other sources. If you have a town producing goods faster than they can be sold, use caravans to move the excess to your towns that have no goods to sell. If you don't have any surplus goods, send caravans to buy them from your trading partners. This costs money, but you will make back that money and more when the goods are sold. The sale of goods to your own citizens produces another highly desirable side effect: It increases the population growth rate in the towns where goods are available, with the largest growth bonus occurring in towns that have access to all three kinds of goods.

Being last in military power is as good as wearing a sign that says "Attack Me."
When a mine peters out and all of its resources have been shipped away, dismiss its workers and sell the mine. Likewise, once you have attained most of the possible research advances, sell off your towers of science, perhaps keeping one or two to research special units of nations that you do not already command. Apart from the money you receive from these sales, you will also save in upkeep costs later.

People power
People are your most important resource in Seven Kingdoms II, and in some ways, the scarcest. The people that aren't working in your factories, mines, and research towers are producing food for your kingdom; each villager that you conscript as a soldier leaves one less worker or farmer. Therefore, you want to do all you can to keep the population of your towns as high as possible. Keep your people supplied with goods and give them places to work. Remember that the growth rate of a town also depends upon its population: A town of 10 villagers will grow very slowly, compared to a town of 90. Resist the temptation to strip every town for troops; instead, consider creating a town with a high population to use as a "peasant factory"; ship wagonloads of people in from other towns if necessary to prime the pump. Each time the town's population approaches the limit of 100 people, build a wagon and send it to where people are needed.

This fort is simultaneously reducing resistance in this town...
The other way to increase your population is through conquest. The early- to mid-game usually consists of a race to assimilate the independent towns, which are a valuable source of untapped peasants. Players that fall behind in the expansion race risk being out-produced and out-manned on the battlefield. The computer knows this too, which makes the early game the perfect opportunity to infiltrate spies into neutral towns that your rivals may later capture.

The capture of an independent town follows a simple recipe: Send a general with a high leadership rating to build a fort near the town; when the fort is complete, the general will move in and begin to erode the town's resistance to you. (This is most effective when the general has the same nationality as the town you are trying to take over.) The town will defect to your side when its resistance drops below 30; however, the general's presence by itself may not be enough to make this happen. If you have abundant money, you can always issue grants to further reduce resistance; however, if you are patient, you can take advantage of the fact that the people will accept jobs from you when their resistance drops below 50. As resistance approaches this level, build a workplace near the town. A tower of science is great for this: It provides 20 jobs and returns benefits to your kingdom immediately. As the people begin to work there, they will warm to you even more; eventually, the town should fall to you without any additional effort on your part.

...and this one. Economize when you can
When choosing sites for new buildings like forts, markets, and towers of science, look for places where the building can influence or service more than one town at a time. You'll save money by requiring fewer buildings.

Compared to forts, camps are a great bargain—if you can live with their limitations: They are only about half as effective as forts in reducing the resistance of towns you wish to take over; they may not be used to train troops, and they lack any sort of fortifications for repelling attacks. Don't rely on camps to defend your own towns; instead, use them as forward bases for sorties against the enemy, and as field hospitals to heal your troops after battle.

The winds of war
Don't wait to begin your military build-up—start as soon as the game begins. A strong military deters Fryhtan attacks and increases the respect that other kingdoms will have for you. Build town walls to protect your villagers, and don't forget to arm the archery towers in new forts. Each tower costs gold to build and a small amount of annual upkeep; only a lack of money should prevent you from arming all five towers. Maintain your troops at full strength and replace losses as quickly as possible.

Arrange forts to provide cover for each other and set them to "At Ease" to prevent troops from wandering off
Never allow troops to leave a fort on their own; always sortie them yourself before an approaching army arrives. By doing so, you retain the ability to command your soldiers as a unified group, and you ensure that the general goes with them. If necessary, place a fort or camp on "At Ease" status to prevent its soldiers from wandering off on their own.

Never, ever leave a troop without a general! A general's leadership rating conveys a combat bonus to all of the soldiers under his command, so use the best officers you can, and outfit them with items to further enhance their abilities. Conversely, make enemy generals and Fryhtan Ordos priority targets in battle, to deprive their soldiers of the combat bonus. During battle, the display can become somewhat cluttered, so pause frequently to assess the situation and identify targets.

Ordos are Fryhtan generals. Kill them first and demoralize their soldiers
Sending green recruits into battle is a recipe for disaster; let them train awhile first, if you can. Soldiers obtain added abilities at certain combat ratings; the exact abilities and minimum ratings required depend on the unit type and nationality. For example, Chinese infantry units obtain a ranged attack when their combat rating reaches 30; Viking axe throwers obtain a berserker attack if that attack has been researched, and the axe thrower's combat rating is 50 or more. (The numeric data about the various units was regrettably omitted from the game's manual; however, an alternate manual containing this information may be obtained from Enlight Software's FTP site, ftp://sevenkingdoms2.com.)

Don't be afraid to retreat from battle. Soldiers and generals improve their ratings faster in battle than they do in a fort—but experience does a soldier no good if he is killed! It takes a long time to build units into veteran killing machines, so don't throw them away needlessly. Withdraw your units before they take too much damage, and rest them to fight another day.

Dispatching Ordos can produce surprising amounts of loot
Consider building and manning two or even three forts at your more important towns, then place them so that their archery towers can cover each other. This allows you to sortie one troop and rest the others when the town comes under attack—or to sortie a large force of troops in a dire emergency. A multiple fort defense can help you withstand prolonged attacks that would wipe out a single.

Build inns early and monitor them regularly for new arrivals. If you have the money, inns are the fastest way to obtain quality soldiers, generals, spies, and special items—especially when you need foreign generals and spies to use against towns whose nationality is not already represented in your kingdom. The more inns you have, the better your chances of finding the units you want. Espionage colleges give you more control over recruitment, but take much longer to produce decent spies.

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Page Updated Mon Feb 28, 2000 8:25pm EST