BANDIT KINGS OF ANCIENT CHINA

LEGAL
Copyright April 2007 by chaoyun2k
My email address is Scotmac77@yahoo.com.  You may offer constructive criticism
or ask a question that I have not answered, IF you include Bandit Kings in the
subject line.  Please contact me before placing this on your website.  Gamefaqs
is currently the only authorized site.


CONTENTS
Background
The Buttons
Introduction (read for a quick start)
Beginning Options
The First Month
The Displays
1. Character Display
2. Prefecture Display
The Menu
War
1. The Battle Display
2. The Battle Commands
3. Victory
4. The Terrain
Special Events
The Good Fellows
Tips
Last Words

BACKGROUND
This game has some historical basis in that it takes place in China at the
beginning of the 12th century (about 100 years before Genghis Khan).  Like some
other Koei games it probably has more basis in legend than in history.  This is
a strategy game that uses the hex battle system, similar to other Koei titles.

Personally, this is one of those games that I have played a lot (as in way too
much).  One of the reasons that I enjoy this game so much is that the first
time I played I was unable to beat the game in the time allotted.  Yes this 
game has an end point that you see if you do not win by Jan. 1127.  That is the
bad news, but the good news is that there are a lot of ways to enjoy this game.
If you try to understand all of the following information before playing, you 
may be overwhelmed.

THE BUTTONS
A - generally selects a menu option
B - brings up a map of China or cancels a selection
D-pad - Answer yes by pressing left, no by pressing right, and in combination
(as in up then right or left) to select the direction to move when in battle,
and used to move the arrow when viewing other prefectures.
Start - Gets you to the menu to start a new game or load a game.
Select - No function

INTRODUCTION
This guide is written as if you never played before and attempts to cover all 
areas of the game.  If you want to jump into the game with minimal reading then
there are a few things you should know.
First and the most important thing to know is that the main objective of the
game is to raise your popularity high enough to challenge Evil Gao Qiu.  He has
become so powerful that even the emperor is afraid of him, so unless you can
show that the people will support you the emperor will not back your efforts.
The second thing you should understand is the ranking system of the game which
is based on the hero's IMC number.  And the third thing to understand is the 
seasons.  Yes there are only four seasons and they are winter (Dec - Feb), 
spring (Mar - May), summer (Jun - Aug), and fall (Sep - Nov).  The reason to 
understand this is that at the beginning of each season is when "special" or
"random" events will occur.  In Jan of each year you may receive a tribute of
gold and food from each prefecture that you control that has a support level
of 40 or more.  Also in Jan each hero's age will increase by one and their
loyalty will likely drop.  Other things that are affected is the arms level of
the soldiers, the training level, the support level of the prefectures, and the
flood, farm, and wealth levels of the prefecture.  At the beginning of a new
season people that tend to move around may move to a new prefecture, and if
they move into one of your prefectures they may ask to be recruited by you.  If
a hero asks to be recruited by you in Dec you may find him "going over" to Evil
Gao Qiu in Jan.  It is possible to avoid that by denying his request and 
recruiting him later or by rewarding him as your action in Dec.
For more information on the first two things to know, most people can find the
specific information by using CTRL-F and searching "popularity" or "IMC".  That
should work for specific information on other subjects as well.

BEGINNING OPTIONS
This guide is written based on the NES cartridge in English.
Once the dragon appears press the start button.

1) Your first option is to "Begin a New Game" or "Load a Saved Game."  This
part of the guide will assume that you are starting a new game.

2) Select the scenario:
2a - Begin in Jan 1101 which is when the "story" begins.  This is a very good
place to begin if you are new to the game.
2b - Begin in Jan 1103 which is after a few things have happened.  A few minor
heroes are missing and a few new good fellows are available.
2c - Begin in 1104 which is after some major developments have taken place.
This scenario has a couple of new faces to try, and some developments for a few
of the more familiar faces by now.
2d - Begin in 1105 which is the most advanced part of the story you can play.
A few of the major characters are now gone, but if you are familiar with the
gameplay this also has the most advanced (in terms of gameplay) character
available to play.

3) Select the number of players.  The number of available characters is
determined by the scenario.  In 1101 there are 5, in 1103 there are 7, in 1104
there are 5, and in 1105 there are 4 characters available to play.

4) Finally you choose your character.  If you move the directional you will be
able to see the character's name.  When the character you want to use is
displayed press the A button.

5) You now have a screen displaying your chosen character and some red numbers
beside the word "body".  You will be setting your characters maximum body
points within a ten point range.  This number varies by character.  You set the
number by pressing the A button.
The rolling numbers then are beside the word "strength" and you will set your
characters strength within a ten point range which varies by character. Again
you set the number by pressing the A button.
Continue this for "dexterity" and "wisdom".  When all four numbers are set you
are asked "Is this all right(Y/N)?"  Press the directional left for a yes or to
the right for a no answer.  If you say no you will begin with the red (rolling)
numbers beside "body" again.  Saying yes brings you to the next option.

6) "Set the game at what level?" with the numbers 1 thru 5.  The default is 1
and to select that level simply press the A button.  To move to a harder level
press the directional right and press the A button at the desired level.  The
main difference in the level is the number of sworn brothers you may have (this
will be covered in the menu options).  At game level 1 you may have 9 brothers
and at game level 5 you may have up to 5 sworn brothers.  Game level 5 tends to
be more difficult to raise support in a prefecture and you tend to see more of
the negative "random" events.

"Is everything all right (Y/N)?"  Press the directional left to begin the game.
Pressing right will take you back to "Begin a New Game."

THE FIRST MONTH

Depending on the character you have chosen, you will be in exile and only have
limited options, or you will be in a settled prefecture (one that you rule).

If you are in exile the Jan. rotation will complete and then you get your turn.
Your options are Flee, Recruit, Settle, Rest, View, or Other.  First press the
B button and a map of China will appear and you can see where on the map you
are located, if you notice the flashing box.  Pressing either button or any
direction on the D-pad will take you back to the menu.  If you are in an empty
prefecture you may choose Settle, but if the prefecture is occupied you will
need to Flee.  Once you are in an empty prefecture you may want to settle even
if it is not your goal.  The reason for this is that your turn in Feb (or the
month following settle) will come in rotation and thus before those in exile.
If you are not in the prefecture that you want simply choose move from the menu
and then Hero from the sub-menu then use the D-pad to move the arrow to the
prefecture that you want to move to (it must be adjacent to the one you are in)
Select the hero(es) to move and then the amount of gold and food (pressing left
on the D-pad for the gold and food takes all of it) press a to confirm the
amount each time and you will move to the chosen prefecture.  If your rotation
was early enough you might even get more turns in the same month (that is the
main reason to settle if you can).  Once you have settled a prefecture the game
is basically the same regardless of whether you started in exile or in control
of a prefecture.

Once you have control of a prefecture your goal is to become popular enough to
challenge the Evil Gao Qiu.  You will need to reach a popularity of at least
250 for the Emperor to issue an Imperial Edict.  So your first objective is to
increase your popularity.  There are two main ways to increase your popularity,
first is to raise the support level of a prefecture to 40 and the second is to
fight beast which appear randomly in your prefecture.  For each prefecture you
raise to 40 or above you gain 12 points of popularity.  For each beast that you
successfully fight you gain 5 points of popularity.  If the prefecture support
falls below 40 due to riot, solicitation, or yearly decline then you will loose
the 12 points for that prefecture (until you get the support back to 40).

There are two ways to raise the support above 40 in a prefecture.  First is to
select the menu option service and one of the sub-menu items of Flood, Farm, or
Build.  These options do not cost gold so they can be done at any time.  They
do however require 15 body points, so you may work yourself to the bone and be
unable to perform them.  The amount of support you gain will depend on how much
of a difference you made, your current popularity level, and your personality
traits.  For more on this see the Character Display below.  The Second way to
raise the support level is to give food.  The amount of support you gain will
depend on how much you give, your personality traits, and your current level of
popularity.

THE DISPLAYS

A. The Character Display
This displays your characters attributes and is one of two main displays.  You
will notice Age XX, possibly a ship (a blank if you don't have a ship), a ships
wheel which denotes that you can easily control a ship (or another blank means
that you might have difficulty controlling a ship), and a "heart" with a number
to the right (probably 0 at this time).  The number beside the heart will go
up as you do things that make you more popular. The top line of your display
has a lot of important info.  You can change whether or not the hero has a ship
and you can change the popularity level (the number beside the heart).  If the
hero is not a Good Fellow there will be an icon (person on hands and knees) and
the number to the right will indicate their loyalty.

The rest of the display is better viewed by column.
The first column has the numbers you set at the beginning and are under your
characters Age.  They are (all four have a maximum of 100):
Max Body Points
Strength
Dexterity
Wisdom

The second column has:
1.Current Body Points (everything you do requires a number of body points and
this tells you how many you have left)  It is possible for this number to go to
0, which is okay if you are not in battle.  You might consider this number as
their remaining stamina.  Every month a hero that has depleted body points will
recover 5 points.  If feast is used the heroes will recover an additional 5 and
if rest is used heroes will recover a total of 15 body points.
2.Strength Experience (certain things you do will give you experience in this
area and when that experience reaches 100 your strength will increase by 1 to
a maximum of 100)
3.Dexterity Experience (same as above)
4.Wisdom Experience (same as above)

The third column has:
The number of soldiers you have and then your personality traits which are
Integrity, Mercy, and Courage.  These numbers never change, but indicate the
type of person you are.  The tendency might be to forget about these numbers,
but they have a major influence on the game.
Most of the time I will refer to these numbers as the hero's IMC.  These are
kind of a ranking system in the game.  There are over 250 heroes if you start
in the first scenario.  You will notice when you have more than one hero in a
prefecture that certain heroes are listed first.  If you add the three numbers
together you get a number that indicates their rank.  The higher that number is
the higher they will appear on a list of heroes in a prefecture.  This is the
hero's IMC, and the highest IMC number is 250.  With the exception of a Good 
Fellow the heroes will appear in order of their IMC, from high to low.
Besides an indication of their rank, the IMC indicates what type of person a 
hero is.  The major indicator of what type of person a hero is would be the 
highest number in the IMC.  If courage is the highest number then the hero
will tend to respect other heroes that have courage as their highest number.
This suggest another classification which can be utilized if you group the
heroes together based on their highest and lowest IMC numbers.  For example,
if you group the heroes that have high courage and low mercy you will find 
that these heroes will stay more loyal and will work together more.  Continuing
with this you might consider these heroes as CIM's (high courage and low mercy)
This would give you six groups within the game.  You would have IMC, ICM, CMI, 
CIM, MIC, and MCI.  This is NOT imperative that you group these heroes in this
way, but you will find that IF you can you will get quicker results.  If you 
put a CIM with a MIC you will find that one of them will loose a considerable
amount of loyalty in Jan of each year.  You will probably notice that there is
less progress in that prefecture than one that has two heroes that are more
compatible and perhaps even less than a prefecture with only one hero.  Even
if heroes are in the same group, but the lower of the two serves as chieftain
there will be some decline in "efficiency".  In other words, if you have two 
heroes that are CIMs, but the C number for the chieftain is 42 and the other 
hero's C number is 77 this is not as efficient as if the hero with courage of
77 were chieftain.

B. The Prefecture Display
The upper left box displays the year and month, the season, and the prefecture
number and name.  There may also be symbols that indicate if there is a smithy
or a shipyard in the prefecture (if there are no symbols you have neither). 
The box to the right shows the ruler and owner (these will be
the same if you are in the prefecture).
The middle left box displays the menu choices which will be covered later.
The middle right box shows the prefecture information and has three columns.
The first column is:
1. Gold - you will gain gold each Jan if the support is above 40.  You also can
sometimes solicit gold and you can gain gold by selling food or fur. MAX 9999
2. Food - you will gain food each Jan if the support is above 40.  You can gain
food by hunting or buying food with your gold. MAX 9999
3. Metal - you will only gain metal thru soliciting or if you take a prefecture
that has some that was gained from soliciting.  Metal is used to make weapons
and cannot be sold.  You also cannot move metal with you, altho you can move
supplies and move some from one prefecture to another (as long as you control
both prefectures). MAX 999
4. Fur - you can increase this by hunting or buying. MAX 999
5. Rate - this is the market rate and will fluctuate.  The higher the number is
the more each unit of food, fur, soldier, arms, or ships will cost.  There are
a few other items that are affected by rate, but those are the main things. The
average rate is 50 and I have seen as a rate as low as 25 and as high as 74.
The Second column is:
1. The number of heroes in the prefecture.  MAX (castles times 5)
2. The number of soldiers in the prefecture.  If you have 0 soldiers then the
next two numbers will be 0 as well.  MAX (heroes times 100)
3. The level of arms of the soldiers (low is 15 and high is 100).
4. The level of training of the soldiers (low is 15 and high is 100).
5. The number of people in the prefecture.  These may be recruitable heroes.
The Third column is:
1. The number of castles in the prefecture.  This number also tells you the
maximum number of heroes that can occupy the prefecture.  You can only have
five heroes for each castle.  This also tells you how many heroes will be
protected in battle.  Castles have great defensive value, but you can only have
one hero in a castle in battle.  (There is one exception to this, prefecture 13
says there are 5 castles and you can have 25 heroes in the prefecture, but in 
battle there are only 4 castles).  If a hero is in a castle the enemy cannot
challenge them to a duel, and you cannot challenge an enemy that is in a castle
to a duel.  In battle, if the enemy occupies all your castles you loose or if 
you occupy all the enemy castles when you attack then you win.
2. The support level - the number will be red from 0 to 39 and you will not 
receive any tribute in Jan.  If the number is white (40-100) then you will gain
tribute in Jan, and you also will have 12 points of popularity for that 
prefecture.
3. The flood control - max of 100
4. The farm level - max of 100 and determines the amount of food you will gain
in Jan.
5. The wealth level - max of 100 and determines the amount of gold you will
gain in Jan.

THE MENU
There are 16 menu commands and most have sub-menu commands.  The first 10 will
appear in the display when your turn in rotation occurs.  To access the other
six commands press the d-pad right or left, up or down moves the arrow to a
command above or below the current option.  Press A to select a command and see
the sub-menu choices.  You get one command per month, unless you move to an
adjacent prefecture and that prefecture has not had a turn in rotation.  You
also get a command turn for each sworn brother you have.

1. Fight - sub-menu War and Beasts.  War will be covered in detail under WAR
and Beasts will be covered here.  At the beginning of a season beasts may 
appear in a prefecture occupied by a Good Fellow only.  There are four types
of beasts bears, tigers, leopards, and wolves.  That is also the order that
indicates the strength of the beasts, bears are much more difficult to fight 
than wolves.  There may be from 1 to 4 of whatever type is present.  It is
possible to successfully fight 1 of either type without soldiers if the hero
is strong and has most of their body points.  Successfully fighting beasts 
will increase a Good Fellow's popularity by 5.  An unsuccessful attempt will
normally increase the popularity by 3, and usually means that the hero sent to
fight the beast was injured (meaning their current body points were reduced to
0).  That hero will be unable to perform any command until their body points 
have recovered sufficiently.  Fighting beast is a great way to increase the
experience level of a hero.  The hero will gain 50 points of "strength 
experience" and 50 points of "dexterity experience".  If the same hero is
used to fight beasts twice that means they will increase both strength and
dexterity by 1 permanently.  This command uses 10 body points and will be 
refused if the current body points are below 50.  Additional body points may
also be depleted depending on the condition of soldiers (if any) and the hero's
condition when sent to fight.

2. Service - sub-menu Flood, Farm, and Build.  This command uses 15 body points
and increases the level of the corresponding prefecture levels.  Using this
will also increase the support level of a prefecture unless the support level
is already at 100.  The amount of increase in flood, farm, or wealth will be
determined mostly by the hero's strength, but it will vary a little for heroes
of equal strength.  The amount of increase in support will vary more on the 
chieftain's AND Good Fellow's mercy and to an extent the Good Fellow's level
of popularity at the time.  However, the Good Fellow's mercy has the most
impact on the increase in support.  The increase is not likely to be the same
every time, but should be fairly close.  The hero performing the service will
gain 10 "strength experience" points.

3. Make - sub-menu Ships and Weapons.  This command uses 15 body points AND is
only available if there is a hero in the prefecture with the ability.  To have
the ability to make ships a hero must have the "ships wheel" and an ability of
at least 70.  To make weapons a hero must have dexterity of at least 60 AND 
wisdom of at least 50.  To make weapons you must have a supply of metal also.
When making ships you will also have to pay an amount of gold (about half what
it would cost if you went to the shipyard).  Most heroes with the ability to
make ships can only make 2 at a time.  The hero making ships will gain 15 
points in "dexterity experience" and 10 points in "wisdom experience".  The 
making weapons will gain 10 points in "dexterity experience" and 10 points in
"wisdom experience".

4. Move - sub-menu Hero, Supplies, To Exile.  This is used to move heroes to an
adjacent prefecture or move supplies to any other prefecture that the Good 
Fellow controls.  When moving heroes you also may choose to take gold and food 
with the heroes.  To take all gold and food press left on the d-pad when asked.
When only moving supplies you may also move metal and fur if you have a supply 
of either.  Moving heroes from one prefecture to an adjacent one requires 10
body points for each hero and gains each hero 7 points of "wisdom experience".
Moving supplies from one prefecture to any other requires 10 body points for 
the hero used for the command and results in 15 points of "wisdom experience".
In addition, when moving supplies there will be losses so the receiving one
will not get the full amount of whatever was sent.  Heroes with higher wisdom
will get most of the supplies to the destination, but the loss can be quite
significant.  The third sub-menu item is not recommended and I have never had
to use this, but it uses 15 body points and you will loose popularity.

5. Ally - sub-menu Treaty and Invite.  To ally with another Good Fellow you 
will need to have a certain amount of gold which depends on the hero chosen to
attempt the treaty.  The higher the wisdom of the chosen hero the lower the 
amount of gold you will need to attempt a treaty.  The success of the attempt 
will depend more on the courage of your Good Fellow.  If successful there will
be no wars allowed between these two Good Fellows.  If you are asked to ally 
by another Good Fellow, you do not receive the gold they "offer".  The hero 
that asks for a treaty is not kidding when they ask you to accept this "paltry"
amount, so I have never been too concerned about this apparent glitch.  If 
your attempted alliance is accepted the hero sent will gain 45 points of 
"wisdom experience", and if unsuccessful the hero sent will gain 18 points.
To Invite another Good Fellow to join you depends more on your popularity and
the compatibility of your IMC numbers.  You may only invite Good Fellows that 
have control of 1 prefecture or one that is in exile.  If they control two or
more prefectures you will not be able to use this option.  If you meet the 
requirements of the other Good Fellow he will accept provided you supply a
certain amount of gold for expenses.  This amount varies from 150 per hero that
he has to 250 per hero.  This is a bargain if all his heroes have 100 soldiers
and your arms and training are high.  If a Good Fellow accepts your invitation
any soldiers he brings will have the same level of arms and training that your
soldiers have.  The other requirement is that you have enough room for all his
heroes.  If your prefecture has 2 castles and you have 7 heroes you may only 
invite someone with 3 or less heroes.  If successful the hero that is sent to
invite another Good Fellow will gain 60 points in "wisdom experience".  If the
attempt is unsuccessful the hero will only gain 23 points.  This command uses
25 body points.

6. Travel - sub-menu (after answering Y) Return, Market, Downtown, Smithy, and
Shipyard.  Only your Good Fellow or a sworn brother will be able to use this
command.  Return ends the command and must be chosen when you are finished with
any other available sub-command.  Choosing Market allows you to buy or sell fur
and/or food.  Choosing Downtown allows you to Recruit people to join you, or to
Divine if they would be willing to join you at this time, and to listen to 
Rumors which costs 10 gold to obtain a list of 7 people that may be willing to
join you at this time.  The Rumors list tells you which prefecture they are in
at the moment, their "title", and their "name" and then how many people there
are in China that may be willing to join you at this time.  You can only Divine
people that are actually in your prefecture at the moment.  This will cost 1
gold for anyone that you divine.  What they say should tell you if they are 
willing to join you at this time.  You can only use Recruit if there are people
in the prefecture.  Smithy is only available if there is one in a prefecture.
This never changes and is indicated by an icon in the upper left box.  The same
is true for the Shipyard option.  Any sales or purchases made will vary in cost
depending on the current market rate of the prefecture (the "abacus" icon).
This command uses 10 body points for your Good Fellow or sworn brother.  
NOTE:
Rumors are based on your level of popularity, but does not insure that the hero
in the list will in fact join you.  Most of the time they will, but if their
IMC is different from yours you should divine before recruiting.  If you try
to recruit someone that is not willing to join you then your popularity will
decline by 1 (if you do not have 0 popularity).  They will normally join unless
your low personal trait is their high personal trait or there is a huge gap in
those two numbers.  If you Divine and they indicate they are willing to join, 
you will be safe in recruiting them.

7. Solicit - sub-menu Gold and Metal.  Choosing this option WILL reduce the 
support level of the prefecture.  This command is affected by the support level
of the prefecture, the dexterity and wisdom of the hero chosen, and the Mercy 
of the Good Fellow.  The higher the mercy of the Good Fellow the less you will
receive.  This is the only way to obtain metal which is used to make weapons.
Don't expect a large amount of gold or metal regardless of any of the factors.
This option can be unsuccessful (you receive nothing and the support level will
drop).  If successful the hero chosen will gain 5 points in "dexterity exp" 
and 13 points in "wisdom exp".  If unsuccessful the hero will receive 10 points
in "wisdom exp".  This command uses 15 body points for the chosen hero.

8. Hunt - sub-menu Food and Fur.  You cannot use this command in the winter.
The amount you receive will depend on the hero's dexterity and your Good
Fellow's courage.  If heroes are left in a prefecture without orders they will
likely hunt fur, even if food levels are not sufficient to support the number
of soldiers in the prefecture.  The only use for fur is to sell for gold and 
only a Good Fellow or sworn brother can go to market.  The hero will gain 15 
points in "dexterity exp" and will use 20 body points for this command.

9. Heroes - sub-menu Brother, Exile, Promote, and Orders.  Brother is the 
command to use if you want to swear brotherhood with one of your heroes.  This
cannot be undone unless you allow your brother to be captured by an enemy.  You
can only swear brotherhood with a hero that has a loyalty of 95 or higher.  The
loyalty of the brother will remain at 100 for the rest of the game.  If your
brother is in a different prefecture than you are then you will be able to use
a turn in that prefecture in rotation. In other words, you will control what 
takes place in that prefecture as well.  Exile is used to send one of your 
heroes into exile and will hurt your popularity.  Promote is used to appoint a
different chieftain in a prefecture.  This might help to keep the other heroes
in the prefecture loyal as well as have other benefits.  You will notice that
the chieftain is often the lowest ranked hero in the prefecture.  Use promote
to correct this.  Orders is used to tell the chieftain of a prefecture what you
want them to focus on.  There are the options for this sub-menu command, they
are Entrust, Develop, and Expand.  Entrust is the default if no orders have 
been issued.  Develop tells the chieftain to focus on internal matters and to
increase flood, farm, wealth, and the support level of a prefecture.  It can
also be used to make sure that everyone you have in a prefecture stays in that
prefecture.  When you have more than three heroes in a prefecture someone is
likely to move to an adjacent prefecture on their own.  Sometimes that is not
a good thing.  In addition, if there are more than three heroes they may attack
an adjacent prefecture.  This can be detrimental if there is a greater threat 
from another prefecture.  In addition, when an entrusted prefecture attacks
another prefecture they have a bad habit of not finishing the job, or using a
lot of resources that would be better utilized.  Expand seems to work very much
like entrust with more than 3 heroes in a prefecture.  Promote and Orders does
not use up your turn, but Brother does.  The number of brothers you can have
depends on the game level you chose at the beginning.  If you chose game level
1 you may have 9 brothers and if you chose game level 5 you may only have five
brothers.

10. Organize - sub-menu Hire Men, Give Men, and Ships.  Hire Men allows you to
hire new soldiers based on the current market rate of the prefecture.  This 
lowers the arms level and training level of the soldiers in the prefecture, 
unless that level is at 15 which is the minimum for each.  Give Men allows you
to redistribute the soldiers you have and therefore does not affect the arms or
training level.  Ships allows you to take a ship from one hero and give it to
another.  This does not change the number of ships in the prefecture, only who
has a ship.

11. Train - has no sub-menu.  This can only be used if there are soldiers in a
prefecture.  This will increase the training level of your soldiers depending 
on the number of soldiers and the strength and dexterity of the hero chosen and
the integrity of your Good Fellow.  The hero will gain 11 points in "strength
exp" and in "dexterity exp".  This command uses 10 body points.

12. Feast - answer Y or N.  This will cost a certain amount of gold per hero in
the prefecture and varies depending on the market rate.  The average cost is 10
gold per hero with a market rate of 50-59.  This will recover an additional 5
body points for each hero that is not at their maximum and will increase their
loyalty a little if they are not at 100.  Good Fellows with high integrity seem
to have the least change in loyalty, but that change is also affected by the
compatibility of the hero and the Good Fellow.

13. Rest - answer Y or N.  This does not cost gold, but will increase the body
points by 10 of any hero up to their maximum body points.  This is the quickest
way to recover body points and is very useful early when the Good Fellow uses
a lot of body points.

14. Give - sub-menu Citizens and Hero.  Giving food to the citizens is the
quickest way to increase the support level of a prefecture.  You may give up to
1000 food in a turn.  The effect varies depending on the Mercy of the Good 
Fellow and the amount of food given.  Giving gold to a hero will increase that
hero's loyalty depending on the compatibility of the hero and the Good Fellow 
and the amount of gold given.  A Good Fellow can give gold to a hero in another
prefecture and the gold comes from the prefecture the hero is in not the one 
the Good Fellow is in.  The maximum amount you may give is 100, however there 
seems to be a diminishing return above 50.  In other words, if you give 50 gold
to a hero the increase in loyalty may be 70 percent of that or 35 points and if
you give 100 gold the increase in loyalty may be only 50 percent of that or 50 
points.

15. View - sub-menu Home, Other, Domain, and Allies.  Home gives you six new
choices to view, they are Hero, People, Exile, H. List, P. List, and E. List.
The first three are to view the most detail of a hero, etc. The last three are
to view a list of the heroes, people, or exiles.  If there are no people or 
exiles in the prefecture, you will be prompted to make another choice.  Viewing
Home does not use your command turn.  Viewing other allows you to choose any
of the other 48 prefectures and if occupied you can look at any hero in that
prefecture or see the development level of the prefecture.  Viewing other will
use your command turn if you look at a prefecture that you do not control.  The
next option is a summary of your domain and has a lot of information.  There 
are up to 10 prefectures displayed per page and each page may be scrolled left
or right.  There are 3 screens of info per page in the domain list.  You have 
to use View - Other to see detailed information of a prefecture in your domain.
Allies will show who you are allied with if any and how many years (the current
year is included, so if you view this in Dec and it shows 1 year the treaty 
will end in the next month).

16 Other - sub-menu Save, Wait, and Quit.  Save allows you to save your game at
that point and load it when you return.  Wait is to change how long a message
is displayed on the screen.  Quit allows you to end the game and you are given
the option to see how the game plays out if the computer where controlling the
game.

WAR

If you are attacked a display will appear showing you the attacking prefecture
number and your prefecture number, the amount of food the attackers brought and
the amount of food you have, the number of heroes the attackers have and the
number of heroes you have, and the number of men (soldiers) the attackers have
and the number of men you have, along with the option to fight or flee.  If you
choose fight you will be presented with a list of your heroes and you must make
the decision on who to send to fight.  If the hero's body points are under 50
the hero must decline and if the hero's loyalty is under 40 they may decline as
well.  After selecting the heroes to send to battle, press the B button and you
will need to place your heroes in the spaces indicated by the prefecture number
by moving the flashing square to the hex that you want the hero in and press 
the A button.  Once you have placed all the heroes you have chosen to send to
battle the attackers will place their heroes in hexes depending on where they
attacked from.  Their hexes will be 10 hexes that are roughly in the direction 
that they attacked from.  Once their heroes are placed you will be given your 
command turn.

The Battle Display

The first box shows the year and month, then the day, the weather, and the wind
direction (if there is any wind), the third line has the prefecture number and
name and then the chieftain or Good Fellow of the prefecture.
The second box shows the attackers food, heroes, and soldiers on the left.  On 
the right is the defenders food, heroes in battle, total heroes in that are
available in the prefecture, the soldiers in battle and the total number that 
available in the prefecture.
The third box shows three battle commands and asks your orders for the hero 
shown in the flashing hex.  You can see who the hero is as well.

The Battle Commands

The available commands are Move, Attack, Rest, and if you 
press right or left you also have Special, Flee, and View
Move allows you to move regularly or to Charge.  Move regular displays your 
remaining movement points and asks for a direction (use the d-pad to change 
the direction of the arrow).  You may move up to three spaces with move 
regular, depending on the number of mobility points you have and the terrain 
you move across.  To move to the right or left you may have to push the d-pad 
up then right or left or push the d-pad down and then right or left.  If you 
select charge the mobility points will be less, but if you contact an enemy in 
an adjacent hex you will be able to attack - melee.  Move regular has a maximum
 of 10 mobility points and if there are 10 regular mobility points the charge 
mobility points will be 8.
Attack has 4 possible ways to attack.  They are: 
1. Melee (attack an adjacent enemy)
2. Archery (attack an enemy that is two spaces away and in the line of a given 
direction with arrows if your dexterity is 60 or above).  You may attack
an enemy that is due north or south because the hexes are in a line.  You may
not attack an enemy that is due east or west because the hexes are not in a 
line.
3. The third option is Magic (which can be used by any hero with wisdom of
80 or above and 50 or more body points).  Magic attacks in a circular area any
hex that is 2 or three spaces away.  Magic used by a hero with a wisdom of 90
or above will attack 3 spaces, and a hero with wisdom of 80-89 will be able to
attack enemies within two spaces.  Magic can only be used on cloudy days, and 
the effect varies (if it succeeds).  The higher a hero's wisdom the more apt
they are to avoid being affected by magic, but it is not a given.  Magic uses
20 body points and gives the user 5 "wisdom exp" points.  If the magic attack 
is successful it will reduce the number of men and the body of the affected 
hero.  In addition the affected hero will not be able to perform any action for
a certain number of turns.
4. Duel - can be accepted or declined and cannot be issued to an enemy that is
in a castle.  Heroes with high courage may accept the challenge regardless of
your instructions.  If the challenge is issued to an enemy with soldiers they 
may attack first.  In other words it is not just the strength and dexterity of
a hero that determines the outcome.  A duel will last until one hero's body 
points are reduced to 0 and that hero will be captured.  If a hero captures a
hero that is stronger, then their strength and dexterity will increase by 1 at
that time.
Rest is the next option and basically is used to avoid using body points.
Special has three options:
1. Fireball (the hero has to have a wisdom of 60 or more to use this) If this
is successful the hero puts a fire in an adjacent hex.  If an enemy is in that
hex they will have to decide on moving or loosing men and body points or to
attempt to put out the fire.  Success gives the hero 1 "wisdom exp" and 1 
"dexterity exp"
2 Put Out (the hero has to have a dexterity of 40 or above to have this option)
The hero may attempt to put out a fire in an adjacent hex.  If the hero is
successful at putting out a fire they will gain 1 point of "dexterity exp" and
1 of "wisdom exp".
3. Reinforce - if you have fewer than 10 heroes in battle, and more heroes that
are available a hero may summon an available hero to join the battle.
Flee sends a hero to an adjacent prefecture that is not occupied by the enemy
or another Good Fellow.  Fleeing heroes can be captured.  A hero may also flee
within the prefecture if defending.  This same hero may be recalled after 7 
days.  This is useful if the hero is caught in a fire and has no open hex to
move to.
View allows you to look at the attacking heroes or the defending heroes.  If 
you choose to view the enemy you will use that command turn.  If you view your
own heroes, you still have a command turn for that hero.

Fight - sub-menu war.

This brings up a list of heroes in the prefecture.  You
may choose up to 10 heroes to send to battle.  Once you have chosen the heroes
press B to indicate the prefecture to attack.  Then choose how much food to 
take, you will be told how much you will need for 30 days.  Increase the amount
by moving the arrow with the d-pad and then enter the amount by pressing A.  If
everything meets with your approval answer Y or N.  You will be shown the hexes
that are available to place your heroes in.  Use the d-pad to move to the hex
you want for the named hero and press A.  The next hero will be named and you 
will need to move to the hex you want to place that hero in.  This continues 
until you have placed all the heroes you brought with you.  The battle then 
proceeds as described above.  You will need 34 gold for each hero that has 100
soldiers and only heroes with 50 body points will be able to go to battle.  You
will need less gold if a hero has fewer than 100 soldiers.

Victory

The battle ends after 30 days.  If the attacker has not achieved 
victory by then the defender wins.  If one side runs out of food the other
side wins.  An attacker can achieve victory by occupying all the castles.  If
all of the heroes of one side are captured the other side wins.  If the leader
is in the battle and is captured or flees from the prefecture the other side
wins.
If defending you may recruit or imprison any heroes you captured.  Any heroes
that were captured by the attackers return to you in the condition they were
in when captured.  The same is true if attacking and you win the battle and
take the prefecture.  If you are forced to flee then any heroes captured by the
enemy may be recruited or imprisoned by them.

The Terrain

Mountains - will block movement and archery attacks.  Magic can be used across
a mountain.

Hills - require 5 mobility points and are good for defense.

Forest - require 4 mobility points and are good for defense, but are easy to 
light fires and difficult to put out fires.  They are not as good for defense 
as mountains.

Plains - require 3 mobility points and are average defense.

Castles - require 4 mobility points and are the best defense.

Marsh - requires 5 mobility points and are poor defense.  Fires are easier to
put out.

Ice - requires 4 mobility points and are poor defense.  Fires are easier to 
put out.  Only in the winter, when marshes and lakes freeze.

Lakes - require a ship.  Requires 8 mobility for a hero without a ships wheel
and 4 mobility for a hero that has a ships wheel.  Fires go out quickly, but
can destroy a ship and take a hero out of battle, or damage their soldiers.

Rivers - require a ship.  Same mobility as Lakes, however a hero entering a 
river looses all mobility points for that turn regardless of how many are left,
when entering from a non-river point.  Heroes may be washed down river one or
two spaces, and may even be washed off the battle screen.  In that case the
hero may show up in several different places, depending on the results of the
battle.  If the chieftain or the Good Fellow is involved and is swept away by
the river the battle will end.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Riot - This may occur in a prefecture where the support level is 40-55.  If
a riot is about to take place in a prefecture that the Good Fellow is in you
will be given the opportunity to try to avert the riot by giving gold or food.
A riot will lower the support level of a prefecture.  This will occur in Mar,
Jun, Sep, or Dec when the seasons change.

Typhoon - This may occur in a prefecture in Jun, when the season changes from
spring to summer.  A typhoon will lower a prefecture's flood, land, and wealth.
It also appears to raise the market rate in a prefecture.

Snowstorm - This may occur in Dec when winter begins.  If this occurs heavy 
snows block any movement for Dec, Jan, and Feb.  and also prevents the ability
to go to war.  This lowers the support level and the farm level of a prefecture
and the market rate tends to increase.

Epidemic - This may occur in Mar, Jun, Sep, or Dec when the seasons change.  It
will decrease support, wealth, soldiers, and body levels and the market rate 
will increase.  The effect varies, but it seems that the soldiers are reduced
by almost half.

Festivals - These may occur in Mar or Sep.  A festival tends to raise support 
and loyalty levels.  The effects are similar to the command feast, only better
because of the effect on support.  They also decrease the market rate.

QIU - This may occur in Mar, Jun, Sep, or Dec.  At the beginning of a season a
prefecture may be forced to pay Evil Gao Qiu.  This is extremely annoying and
costly, because you do not have an option of refusing.  He will take between
1/4 and 1/3 of a prefecture's gold.  This happens regardless of his lack of 
strength and may hit 4 or 5 of your prefectures.  The only redeeming aspect is
that he doesn't actually get the gold, even though you loose it.

Change of Heart - This may occur in the month after you recruit a new hero, or
at anytime afterwards if you do not reward the hero to increase his loyalty.

Gone over to Qiu - This occurs in Jan if the loyalty of a hero is too low and
is common if a hero asks to be recruited in Dec.  He does not need any help in
gaining heroes, so beware.

Lian Shan Bo - When you control prefecture 10 and 20 with support above 90 in 
both prefectures you will get 100 additional popularity points at the end of 
the season that both are at 90 or above.  This is a nice bonus and shortens the
amount of time you need to defeat Evil Gao Qiu.

Imperial Edict - In Jan the Emperor will see if anyone has enough popularity to
be issued the Imperial Edict.  This edict allows you to attack Qiu's home 
prefecture.  Until you have this you cannot attack a prefecture that Qiu is in,
which is almost always prefecture 23.

THE GOOD FELLOWS

Scenario 1

Tattooed Priest - IMC 63 - 74 - 88 type CMI - rank 225
max body - 100 
strength - 100 
dexterity - 72 
wisdom - 53

Nine Dragons - IMC 74 - 69 - 95 type CIM - rank 238
max body - 100 
strength - 95 
dexterity - 83 
wisdom - 49

Leopard Headed - IMC 100 - 61 - 80 type ICM - rank 241
max body - 100 
strength - 96 
dexterity - 81 
wisdom - 58

Hairy Priest - IMC 68 - 55 - 98 type CIM - rank 221
max body - 100 
strength - 97 
dexterity - 79 
wisdom - 38

Blue Face Beast - IMC 97 - 58 - 79 type ICM - rank 234
max body - 100 
strength - 92 
dexterity - 83 
wisdom - 70

Scenario 2

The same five as above plus:

Welcome Rain - IMC 81 - 100- 62 type MIC - rank 243
max body - 90 
strength - 51 
dexterity - 58 
wisdom - 80

Heavenly King - IMC 96 - 68 - 76 type ICM - rank 240
max body - 93
strength - 76
dexterity - 58
wisdom - 74

Scenario 3

Tattooed Priest, Nine Dragons, and Heavenly King same as above plus:

Black Whirlwind - IMC 59 - 24 - 100 type CIM - rank 183
max body - 100
strength - 99
dexterity - 58
wisdom - 19

River Dragon - IMC 70 - 81 - 52 type MIC - rank 203
max body - 89
strength - 62
dexterity - 78
wisdom - 66

Scenario 4 

Tattooed Priest, Nine Dragons, and Welcome Rain same as above plus:

Bold Eagle - IMC 60 - 71 - 79 type CMI - rank 210
max body - 97
strength - 72
dexterity - 90
wisdom - 66

TIPS

1. Don't settle in a prefecture that is adjacent to Evil Gao Qiu until you are
prepared to battle him.
2. Swear brotherhood with the highest ranked hero you can.
3. Qiu will match arms and training with an enemy prefecture that is adjacent
to him and has a support level. This will take some time, but he can accomplish
this quicker than you can.
4. A small number of armed and trained soldiers can take out a large army of
soldiers that are less skilled and armed.
5. Lure his heroes into an undeveloped prefecture having one hero raise the 
support level of the prefecture above 40 and then refuse Qiu's demand for gold.
This can be hazardous because the hero can be caught when fleeing.  If used
properly this lowers the number of heroes in his developed prefecture and makes
an easier take over target.  And if the prefecture he takes is surrounded by
your prefectures then they become easy targets when their food supply gets low.
You can easily gain 10 or more heroes this way, and if attacked at the right
time you can gain heroes with a lot of soldiers.
6. Heroes with dexterity above 80 can reduce the body points of a hero they 
attack with arrows.
7. Magic can decimate a large army if timed well.  Used in conjunction with
fire, you can capture heroes with ease.  The bad thing is this also depends on
the weather.
8. To get an enemy that has 12 heroes with 100 soldiers to attack, make sure
you have no more than 699 soldiers in your prefecture.  On the flip, if you 
want to avoid an attack keep at least 700 soldiers in a prefecture.  This will
normally work, but there can be exceptions.
9. Capturing the chieftain of a prefecture will ensure that you get all the 
gold and food in a prefecture.  This is sometimes by chance since they do not
always enter the battle.  You will still get a lot of the gold and food, but it
is amazing how much they can get away with if not captured.
10. Qiu's heroes will always flee to an adjoining prefecture that he controls
if one is available.  Divide and conquer works well though.
11. Watch the rotation, sometimes this determines whether you get a prefecture
or someone else does.  In addition if you have the first turn, you are assured
of another turn if you take another prefecture.
12. One strong hero with 100 soldiers is better than 5 with 20 soldiers each.

LAST WORDS
This was written by me, chaoyun2k, entirely from 15 years of playing this game
and the last month or so playing and confirming some of the numbers.  I wrote
this with the hope that something I said will help others enjoy the game as
much as I do.  This is version 1 and should be complete.