Romance of the Three Kingdoms
			Wall of Fire
		Copyright 1997 Koei Corporation

**Goal**

Expand your kingdom by building a strong military and try to outsmart your rivals
 during 
negotiations. Your strength also depends on the economical power of your kingdom
 and the 
happiness of your people. 

**General advice**

  Pick a strong leader.  Scan the scenarios to identify the traditional successors;
 these tend to be the 
strongest.
  Appoint an advisor from among the highly intelligent generals.  The higher your
 advisor's rating in 
intelligence, the better his advice will be.
  Develop an expansion plan.  Do reconnaissance work, employ diplomatic efforts or
 try some more 
covert actions.  Before you begin to develop your territory, decide your initial
 attack strategy.
  When an officer's Loyalty rating drops below 50, you can fire him and recruit him
 anew.  He will 
come back with a higher Loyalty rating.  You can also boost an officer's Loyalty
 rating by giving him 
gold or promoting him.
  Focus your investments on cities with at least 200,000 people.  Smaller cities
 just cannot develop the 
goods you need quickly.


**Maintaining your cities**

  Start the game by spending about 1,000 gold in each of farm, economy, dam and technology.
  Never 
let these categories fall below 100 gold invested.
  Use the first 6 months of the game for building up your city.  Draft a stable number
 of troops for 
defensive purposes, and train them for that period.  
  If you draft too often, your support and spirit ratings will drop. They will then
 be more likely to flee 
the scene of a battle or cave into psychological pressure, such as Taunts and Rumors.
   Counter this 
by recruiting as many troops as possible at one time and Train the troops.  Also
 use the Staff-Give 
command, to increase your civilians' support.
  Always try to increase the number of officers in a city.  When you have an unused
 officer, have him 
Search neighboring regions for free officers.  Send a charming general to other rulers
 and Recruit;  
when you  Set Terms, Offer lots of gold.
  Study your city statistics.  Identify any problems that may be pestering your city
 and deal with them 
before you are attacked.
  Gold collection occurs every year in January.  Prepare for this event by investing
 in your economy, 
gaining the peopleÕs support and having a charming governor.  The size of the city
 also determines 
how much gold you receive.
  Provisions collection occurs every year in July.  Increase your farming level,
 dam and size of the city 
to get major provisions. 
  If you do not receive enough gold or provisions from your yearly collections to
 pay your soldiers and 
officers, you should use the market to purchase or sell provisions.  It is vital
 that you have the 
sufficient gold and provisions in January and July to keep your officers happy.
  Do not spend as much money on Dams in the northern and western region.  These areas
 are less 
susceptible to flooding.
  Increase your cultivation.  This not only makes the peasants happier, it also increases
 the value of the 
property.


**Preparing for war**

  Make sure your troops' spirit is high, or your losses in battle will be great.
  You can increase their 
spirit by resting and Training. 
  Do your research before you attack another city.  This is best done by using the
 Army-Spy command 
with a loyal officer.  
  Take inventory of which of your generals will be good in war.  Pick ones with high
 power and 
leadership.  Combat-based skills (infantry, cavalry, archery or naval) are necessary
 for your war 
generals.
  Use a spy to determine which city has weak support.  Weaken your opponents' resources
 by setting a 
Plot.  Try using the Arson option and burn their food.
  Purchase or make war resources such as horses, crossbows, catapults and rams using
 the Build 
command on your Army or Market menu.
  Make sure to bring along a good array of weaponry.  This will give you more options
 in combat.
  Before you attack a neighboring ruler, send gifts to the rulers around his city
 so their hostility level 
drops.  This will make them think of you as less of a threat and give you a few rounds
 after your 
victory to regroup your soldiers before they attack. 
  Start off by attacking a ruler who is less powerful and has fewer allies and resources.
  It is best to 
attack a ruler who owns only one city.  Often attacking a stronger ruler will result
 in a nasty counter 
offensive resulting in loss of any temporary gains or loss of even more.   
  Hide a loyal officer amongst your enemies and you will have an advantage when you
 go into combat.  
When you use the Betray command in combat, and your hidden officer is on the other
 side, he will 
bring with him some troops and your opponents' spirit will often fall.
  Assign your officers to positions within cities as you expand(such as civil officer,
 marshal and 
general officer).  
  Reward officers with items.  If you have items to give to your generals, they will
 increase their  
loyalty and other statistics.  This is especially useful for commanders going to
 war. 

**During war**

  If you are the defending side and you take an advisor to battle, you may set a
 Pitfall or Hay trap.  
You may ignite the hay with the Fire command or by firing a Firebolt at the hay.
  The fire command 
may often cause the fire to hit your troops.  Use your archers and Firebolt the hay.

  Position your troops in the best terrain type.  The highest terrain effect rating
 is the mountain region. 
A higher rating will give your troops defensive and offensive advantages.  
  Use commanders'  strengths while in war.  Plotting against the enemy's commander
 will sway the 
balance of even fights.    
  If an enemy sends in reinforcements that will change the outcome of the battle,
 you should Plot-Lie to 
the reinforcements.  If they are not threatening to alter the results, allow them
 to stay and capture 
their commanders by defeating them.
  Use the Confuse, from the Plot menu, in a field battle (this will disable an enemy's
 movement), then 
start a fire on the enemy's unit.  This also works with Cao Cao's ability called
 Chaos.
  Placing your forces in a forest or grassland makes them vulnerable to a fire. 
 Placing them below 
mountains makes them vulnerable to enemy troops hurling boulders.

**Foreign policy**
 
  If you are not at peace with lesser powered rulers around you, grind down their
 resources for the year 
by periodic raids.  The troops you send on these raids should be well trained, with
 high spirit, and the 
commander should have the appropriate commander abilities( cavalry, infantry or archery).

  If you are wealthy, you can ask a foreign tribe to Invade some of your opponents.
  This will slow 
them down and give you the time to build more forces.  
  Send Gifts to rulers with low hostility.  If a rulersÕ hostility reaches zero,
 form an alliance with the 
Ally command.
  Keep your spies active in other regions and monitor your opponents.
  Never Free an officer.  Either Recruit him or Execute him.
  If a ruler proposes to make an alliance and offers you gold or goods, you often
 cannot negotiate the 
price.  If you turn down an offer, your intended ally makes no counter offer.