Warcraft: Orcs & Humans/Strategies

This is the guide for tips and strategies for playing Campaign and Multiplayer of Warcraft I: Orcs and Humans.

Single Player

Formations

Wide Space Formation:
(for open areas)

e e e e

F K K K F
A A A A A
F c c c F

Short Space Formation:
(for tight areas like a bridge)

\  e e /
|      |
|      |
|      |
|      |
/K F K \
A A A A c

e=enemy
F=Footman
c=Cleric
A=Archer
K=Knight
C=Catapult
O=Conjurer

1. Train a lot of archers/spearmen, since they are ranged and can take out close combat units (especially with fully upgraded arrows).
2. Good formation of troops are important. Some good formations can be seen in the sidebar to the right.
   • Use Catapults only when using ranged. Have some guards to protect the catapults if enemies come too close.
3. Build in a position where gold and lumber can come quickly and effectively.
4. To get gold and lumber effectively:
   • Train 7 Peasants: 4 to mine gold, and 2 to mine lumber. Leave the last one for building. If all buildings are done, then make the last Peasant harvest lumber.
5. Use a formation to draw out the opponent's defenders. When all are drawn out, attack the base with your remaining units.
6. When attacking an outpost, take out the most important buildings (Important->Least Important) Barracks, Town Hall, Church/Temple, Tower, Blacksmith, Stable/Kennel, and Farm.

Multiplayer

1. Usually (and you should too), the players send a Peasant/Peon to scout ahead into enemy territory to see where the opponent is.
   • Send it off angle, so the opponent does not know where you came from.
   • Example: Player 1, Orc has his outpost at the South, while Player 2, Human has his outpost Northwest. Player 1 will want to send his Peon up North, then head West, so that way he can fool Player 2 into thinking his Outpost is West of his. Player 2 should send a Peasant South, then East to fool Player 1 to think that Jeff's outpost is West of Ethan's. However, doing this requires previous knowledge of where the possible starting locations are.
2. It is not advised to use ranged units on catapults. Use close combat units, like Footmen/Grunts or Knights/Raiders.