Just got this game from Gog for cheap. It's very charming but my God it is mercilessly difficult. Already ran into trouble in the fifth mission where you get the Amber Wizard and need to face a Rat Ogre.

Anyone else tried this game?

>>2067133 (OP)
Yes. Played both that and dark omen to death.

>>2067163
Any assistance for mission 5? Good God the Skaven keep tearing me a new asshole.

>>2067133 (OP)
The whole game is about suffering hard while you feed your Wizards as much exp as possible until they are so powerful that they can kill all the enemies on their own.

I did on ps1 because fuck midi, ps1 ost is the shit.
And yes this game fucks hard.
Unlike total war shit this follows closely tabletop so its not unheard of for goblins or skaven slaves to rout your swordsmen.
It also likes to fuck you hard by giving an illusion of choice when in reality you shouldnt be making it or else its a gameover.
Personally I prefer mechanics and gameplay in this one as well as the sequel as opposed to CA shit. It also featured border princes so its still better than total warhammer in that regard.

My experience however is bigger with its sequel dark omen. Melee only run is a lot of fun and there are custom campaigns as well for greenskins , dwarfs, elfs whatever. Ost motif lives rent free in my head.

And mandatory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azOvRwrqz2M

>>2067164
Get good-good, yes-yes.
But seriously just don't use more units than you have to, learn which targets are priority and take them out with ranged if at all possible and don't sleep on your wizard characters. You don't want to melee if it's avoidable and you don't want the enemies to rout off the map since that's a waste of XP.

>mission 5
That's the one with the stunties, right? Your crossbows and wizard should take out some of the chaff asap and you can use the cavalry to split them up even more and hit the ones engaging either your infantry or the uristbrigade from the back. Cyclecharge isn't as effective as in TW games but hammer and anvil is still a valid strategy.

>>2067166
>It also likes to fuck you hard by giving an illusion of choice when in reality you shouldnt be making it or else its a gameover.

Can you elaborate? Seems like a major design flaw.

>this game fucks hard

Yeah, I am a fully grown adult, played plemty of strategy games and this is straight up hardcore shit. One mistake my army is annihilated.

>>2067173
Yeah, stunties top left, storm vermin, 3 clan rats and a rat ogre. The wizard keep bloody snuffing his spells and gets run over.

Should I just hold position and spam crossbowmen on the chaff and let the stunties die?

>>2067191
>let the stunties die?
No. It's a dps race between you killing your side before they die.

>wizard not carry
And there's your problem. Those need to lvl up ASAP.

>>2067191
>Can you elaborate? Seems like a major design flaw
afaik when youre given a choice between slaying orcs, escorting dwarfs and something else, choosing slay orcs put my unexperienced ass into a non stop ass rape session when bunch of orcs bumrush your ass. Sure i should have known better but still fuck you game.

As for your troubles, wizards are glass cannons. That one small spell that launches shards or whatever easily one shot kills rat ogres

>>2067133 (OP)
GOG gave it as freebie years ago and I played it back then. I hate how the outcome of battles are random. I've done the first mission dozen of times, always following the same tactics. I've had situations where none of my men died, half of them did and other times they all died. And you replenish like 2-3 soldiers per battle so you cannot afford losses or you'll enter the next missions with less and less men and it becomes a death spiral. Wizards are powerful but because of shitty controls the spells are finicky. Sometimes they hit and deal big damage, other times they miss completely.

I've gave in an honest effort but I was never able to beat the Rat Ogre mission without serious casualties. And between the bad controls and needing to restart missions over and over again, I'm never playing this shit again. I'm sticking with Mark of Chaos and hoping for a Dark Omen re-release

>>2067327
So basically you got filtered?

Managed to finally complete Mission 5. I simply set up the Cavalry and my Commander on the flank to face the clanrats and the Rat Ogre.

I used my wizard to slow the stormvermin, crossbowmen to pick off clanrats to relieve the dwarfs and sent my infantry to reinforce them.

A lot of luck and good fortunate, but, something else I enjoy about the game, over in a matter of minutes.

Just happy now I don't need to see the flailing armed Rat Ogre rabidly chasing my army to death,

>>2068285
>he thinks he's done with rat ogres
Oh boy

>>2068285
Good on you faggot but keep in mind you're still in the tutorial levels

>>2068288
That does not bode well...

>>2068313
I say this 100% genuinely but that was a totorial?!

>>2068516
I mean the mission count goes to like 29(30)

>>2067133 (OP)
>A strategy game from the 90s is pointlessly hard
No one could've predicted this.

>>2068572
It's not dude. OP just needs to take the wizard pill.

>>2068595
I saw the wizard get repeatedly run over by the rogre and skaven. I also can't attach him to a unit, so I plan to keep him back.

>>2068713
Thing is if he doesn't get kills he doesn't get to level. And if he doesn't get to level both his casting ability and available spells are very limited. If he does huntin spear can (with some luck) one shot one of those single model pain in the ass units like grey seers or giants and flock of doom, unlike in say twwh will (with some luck) completely delete several units of stormvermin or black orcs per cast.
Later on you get alright artillery pieces and more archers including woodelves but when shit hits the fan you want that wizard well fed and prepped.

I had a similar experience with dark omen and then I put priority on that bright wizard. Game went from cock and balls torture to something close to enjoyable. Fuck screaming skulls tho.

>>2068757
Ok, I appreciate the detailed and helpful post. I am only on mission six, so will try to spam hunting spear to get some precious exp in for my wizard. Though I can't emphasise more how genuinely fun the game is. Really nice depiction of a tabletop warhammer battle, live.

>>2068778
Unfortunately in the first game you get your bright and celestial wizard much later compared to the amber one so they can be pain to level fast enough. But if it's any consolation the celestial one in particular is like playing with cheats.
Pop his windblast in a nice choke at the right moment and watch as the enemies go the LOOOOOOOONG way around. Ideally while being peppered by your helblaster and cannon.
I swear to god I don't know if certain missions are even possible to do without massive casualties otherwise.

>stuck again on Orc Pursuit

Just as I was getting over Rat Ogres, I have another suicidal unit of Dwarf allies getting ganked by Orc Big uns, Black Orcs, the works.

This game doesn't let up!

Pulled through without losing any units but took some losses. Amber Wizard is clearly a charlatan, a crook or indeed, might just be a hobo who thinks he is magical, but he whiffed EVERY SINGLE spell.

>finally get my army organised and ready
>getting through the revenge/human route
>run out of gold after saving
>game over

Well....that definitely hurt my enjoyment of this game.

>>2070320
skill issue

>>2070320
>>2070138
Told ya to level the wizard asap

>>2070439
>skill issue

Don't I know it? This game doesn't fuck hard, it fucks you raw and in the rear!

>>2070801
Anon I swear, I SWEAR TO GOD I have tried. The stupid bastard keeps whiffing his spear spell. And like an actual TT Game, by the time I've let off two, the enemy are on me.

That said, by the grace of James Workshop, I not only managed to get further (and save money) but also beat that stupid, STUPID STUPID hard level.

Shatted pass, the one with a bajillion Black Orcs and Doom Divers. After numerous tries, I somehow managed to win without my units taking catastrophic permanent losses.

However, one of my Mortars killed itself, so I am left with one.

That mission was proper painful to the point I had to use my deployment zone with actual tactical considerations in mind. Even looked up some wiki articles on proper battles.

TL:DR: Should I force myself to play through that mission again in the hopes I can save both mortars or is one enough?

>>2071091
Just relax and keep at it dude. Worst case you brick yourself and start a new run with some foresight.

>whiffing his spear spell
Pretty sure miscast is directly tied to his level. I remember giving the titular fireball/grudgebringer sword to the bright wizard in dark omen precisely to level him up faster during the early levels.

>>2071201
Thanks man. This game is unreal but enjoying the harsh grind. Ironically, it helped me win an actual WHF game earlier today over TTS. Helps this game visualises an actual TT game.

>manage to beat the Shattered Pass again this time with even better results
>every single other mission after is so difficult and can't pass without taking obscene damage
>arrows pin cushioning me
>artillery wiping out units in one go
>mortars useless during zhufbar as they count as NPC
>mfw

I'm....so tired anons. So tired. I don't even think my wizard could save me if levelled up. Run into an "ambush" with a Shaman on a Wyvern, rock lobbers and Big Uns and Black Orcs.

I can't win and my mortars don't work because it's an ambush?

I need a break lads. This is killing me.

Play Dark Omen instead anon.
It fixes all your frustration.
It also has custom mod campaigns which are ball breaking hard.

>>2071921
I heard DO is considerably better but I won't let SOTH outdo me. I saved a file at Orc pursuit for this exact reason. I like the game, just wish there was a gigantic sign NOT to take the Revenge route.

>>2071925
>just wish there was a gigantic sign NOT to take the Revenge route
That's just your weaponized industrial grade skill issue talking.

>>2071929
I hope I can beat this game by this weekend

>>2072050
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYp0sF6uhk8

I got much further after taking the Zhufbar route but I game overed again by bankrupting myself in Nuln by hiring everything. Next time im only getting the cannon and thank god I got my previous saves.

I really, really wish you couldn't run out of money like that. Next time I am only hiring the great cannon. Will save nearly 1000 gold if not more.

Finally made ut to the Final Battle against the Orc army. My artillery keeps killing my iwn units from behind but will try again tomorrow.

>wyvern
>fanatics
>big uns
>black orcs

OH BOY

FINALLY COMPLETED THE GAME! Took 30 hours of gameplay but I did it.

While the ending cutscene was a bit short, overall the game was very, very good. Unbelievably difficult but I managed it in the end and it has actually helped my Warhammer TOW tabletop games, now that I can envision what a battle looks like.

That said, ironically the second last battle against the Orcs was considerably harder than the final battle with the Skaven. The Orcs, I needed to retry a fair few times but the Skaven I beat in the first attempt.

I am glad I went back to go through the Path to Zhufbar path, it is considerably better than the Revenge path, where the troops are miserably poor compared to the Dwarf reinforcements.

Also you get to see Gotrek fight a dragon in the dwarf route

9/10 game.

Rough controls but once you get used to them it's merry. Mechanics are very neat, graphics are charming and all the small cutscenes and mechanics add a nice retro feel to the game.

Bloody hard game though, reminds me of Dark Souls with all the retries.

You better play dark omen now OP

>>2076788
Good work man. How many times have you restarted levels in average? You can recruit so few men between missions that I found myself restarting levels over and over again until I aced them and it was exhausting

>>2076894
Thank yoy anon. It was a ride. On average, once I realised it was necessary, 2-3 times average. However the more difficult ones? More than two dozen. I wasn't looking for perfect runs, just not have my army get trashed too hard.

The second last battle, and a few others took me soooo many tries. My playtime was 30 hours, though maybe 2-3 was idle as i left it on accidentally but a solid block of effort.

Learning and adjusting to the mechanics took the bulk if it but after I gotit, was just a matter of playing it like Warhammer. Despite following a guide, humorously REAL formations mixed with TT deployment mechanics won me through.

Bloody nifty game.

>>2076882
I can't find a safe installation and as a teen i lost a number of computers to viruses. Paranoia two decades later still. Would love to play DO though, is it even more harder than SOTH?

>>2076894
Also I realised my wizard kept failing because if you cast on screen, you will click on terrain so it auto whiffs. But once I started targeting on the minimap via enemy banners? 100% cast rate.

>>2077206
Ooooh so that's why my spears missed all the time. Good to know

>>2077201
I don't know how to get Dark Omen running but I've played and recommend Mark of Chaos, which is the sequel of DO and the final game of the Warhammer RTT series. 3 different campaigns and the graphics & gameplay are great

>>2077201
You need to find repack which contains both fixes for win 10 and mod installation
I remember getting my copy from here
https://www.old-games.ru/game/download/381.html?ysclid=mcce1hgavt797739915
however there is no mention of modded campaigns so i may be misremembering.
If you want OP i can upload my copy. Its working on my win 10 and i dont think you will need to bother with registers either.

>>2077201
>is it even more harder than SOTH?
No since you already been immunised to bullshit gotcha and retries.
Although difficulty does spike up at Kislev especially that first part. You will see it when you play it.

>>2077244
I have played MOC just before this. I really like it and the campaigns are good fun. Ironically Chaos is my favourite, Thorgaar is so cool as he ascends to Daemonhood!

I ended up preferring SOTH mind due as it is, pretty much a real time version of the TT rules.

>>2077258
I appreciate the offer, thank you but after spending so long on SOTH, I think I need to hold my horses for now

>>2077263
Sounds good. I don't think anything will top Shattered Pass though, it is unreal just how superior Orc infantry is to skaven.

I think in hindsight I may just replay SOTH at a far more relaxed pace, just try a different route. After all, there is Zhufbar, Loren or Revenge.

ok OP i know you said you need rest but i went ahead and uploaded a working version with modded campaigns. I tested it on my laptop which never had the game installed and its working as it should.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/xfyjod3imzqtonx/DarkOmen.zip/file

unzip to any path which doesnt contain non latin letters
navigate to subfolder prg_eng
run regsetup.exe. this sets up registries necessary for the game to load, otherwise it won’t find the folder where game is setup and complain.
if you are paranoid change it to txt and see registries it add yourself.
next, and this is important, in same subfolder, set up compatibility of engrel.exe to windows xp sp2. otherwise you will be getting cd check.

after that, run the game via same exe and it should run. once it runs, play around with resolution settings in dgVoodooCpl.exe to set it up to your liking (fullscreen, anti aliasing, stretched or keep ratio, watermark etc)

after that, change graphical settings as picrel for best graphical fidelity

as far as i can tell i cant alt tab without game derping out but battles are fast and brutal anyway as you would know

havent done this in a while lets see
>>>/wsg/5908874

>>>/wsg/5908878

And last webm for now

>>>/wsg/5908887
Anyway OP, get rest, and prepare yourself. I imagine for a veteran like you this one will be a breeze not only due to controls but also the game itself being easier. Once you're done, dig into modded campaigns because thats where SOTHR tier bullshitry lies with non stop ass rape enemies spawning.

>>2077721
You're a gentleman and scholar. Thanks for uploading and showing the webms and DO download. I shall rest but will likely make a thread in the future once I begin. Mind it's gonna be a bit, fair warning. Thanks for ending up reading my blog whjch was meant to be a thread..

>>2077705
>>2077708
I like how everyone on the battlefield is on a Zoom meeting

>>2077722
>blog whjch was meant to be a thread
Try and make it less attentionfagging next time will ya? Post a dorf to counter your gay for example.

>>2077834
kek

>>2077856
Anyone can join in. Plus was hoping to get discussion going if I posted.

>post dawi

I did. >>2076788 I got the dwarf ending. While you are here, did you prefer SOTH or DO?

>>2077834
Seeing the other anons clips, its quite funky having pop up windows mid combat.

>>2077861
They are with a purpose. Unit telling you if they are getting their shit kicked in, routing, fearing the enemy, tore enemy a new one or under fire etc.
Bit of a lost technology since nowadays its just voice over whereas here you had a face of a regiment commander as well.

>>2077867
I think it's intuitive, at least in the single player context. Multiplayer I could see it being extremely chaotic, but I like the idea.

I remember losing a few games in RTS because a unit got ambushed and had no clue who or what was under attack. Also it looks like DO integrated the right click to move like a modern RTS. Is that yhe case?

>>2077869
>Also it looks like DO integrated the right click to move like a modern RTS. Is that yhe case?
Yup, right click drags the battlefield. Still not perfect since around same time we had first Shogun Total War (same sprite artist as DO btw) and in that one you could configure wasd camera but it controls ok.

>>2077873
I will look at what I can do late next week.

In hindsight, lack of skirmish mode aside, I think SOTH is better than Mark of Chaos. The single player campaign is hard but there is a better feel of your units being persistent as well as needing to use tactics and strategy to win.

MoC bar the latter parts of some areas of the campaign, can be won quite comfortably. Also just love the Grudgebringers.

The Revenge route is tough as hell. The Carlson guard are awful compared to the Dwarfs.

Still getting stuff from this game. Still hard as hell but more fun now that the controls are second nature.

I guess OP ran off then unable to beat DO.

>>2095337
I didn't even install it yet man. In the SoTH loop, doing a playthrough in the Revenge route. I like Ragnar's Wolves but damn they're squishy compared to Varnheim.

So I get Shadow of the rat and how I increase the size of the windows aka resolution>?
its really small in the middle

>>2095563
post webms or screenshot nigger

>>2095677
Are you using gog? Should be a setting or click the maximize button on the window.

>>2095720
?

>>2095727
yes gog
i got small scree on the big black background
dont see any setting in game or button

>>2095928
Might need to look at the properties setting in shortcut. Mine always goes full screen by default.

>>2095727
webms and screenshots of your battles or AARs, nigger.

>>2096230
>properties setting in shortcu
none
show yours

>>2096292
I was speculating, I am not at my laptop right now but it just default opens up a full screen.

>>2096240
Not with that attitude anon. Why not share yours?

>>2095720
post tits bitch

>>2096354
>Not with that attitude anon. Why not share yours?
Already did, nigger.
>>2077705
>>2077708
>>2077721
As well as the entire game.
>>2077696
Now post'em

>>2096388
Ah, you seemed quite aggro with the language. I guess you're mad I didn't download DO yet. If you want the truth?

I did, but couldn't get it to run so your efforts were not for nothing. Probably cause I am on a crapbook.

Cut the attitude and I will be with you shortly.

>>2077696
This download set off my antivirus?

>>2096516
>I did, but couldn't get it to run
Any errors specificaly? Because there is a wrapper so it should work.
I can test it on a crappy office laptop from 2009 with no GPU but I need to install an OS on it. Probably this weekend.
>>2096532
>dolhpin_porn etc
post proof, faggot

>>2096546
No pop up error logs, it quite simply did not run. I called it a crapbook for a reason, may as well power it with a hamster in a wheel.

I also tried the Abandonware Download after yours and that was even worse trying to get it working. Hint: It didn't.

>>2096546
Don't go to the trouble of doing all that work. I will see what I can do with another machine but that's gonna take time to get. Till then I will send AAR.

Another factor contributing to my airtight schedule is family . Would be lying if I told you my game time hasn't been a cause of conflict.

After much blood, sweat and tears, I completed the game through the Revenge (Hard) Route. Ragnar, the Reikland Knights and Grudgebringer Cavalry were indominatable, but the artillery and Wood Elves did stupid amount of damage.

The Grudgebringer Infantry also managed to gain 2000 exp and were pretty nice throughout the campaign as support.

OP Signing off after a good many hours poured into this hideously difficult but wonderful game.