How to Survive Dark Maps

For some reason a good number of players seem to dislike dark maps. Of course these players all have their reasons ("Trow sucks" or "Trow unbalance the game") but personally I think a good game of trow terries is equal to a good game of creep terries.  Here are some tips to get you through dark maps.

																																			Pay Attention
The main problem most players have with dark maps is the speed of the units and the devestating accuracy of the artillery. In other words dark maps are too fast and too powerful for some. You can't really afford to take your eyes off your own spot on the map because you could come back and find that all that is left of your units is a smoking hole in the ground. Splitting the units you are controlling between two spots on the map is also a terrible idea. It is a very smart thing to have all the units under your control in your sight when on a dark map. In general if you get the job done at your spot on the map the rest will fall into place.

																								The Space Bar Is Mightier Then the Trow

If you are going to let your units out of your sight for any amount of time then I suggest you put them on stop. This is to ensure while you are away they don't blow each other up or charge something that blows them up. Also on dark maps it is best to keep your units in loose formations. If some artillery sneaks in while you are away the damage will be less if you units are in loose formation.

																												Here a Trow, There a Trow...
Trow are the units that give people the biggest fits on dark maps. They can kick fetch like nothing and their hit and run tactics are very annoying. The best way to keep trow away is with souless. If you don't like hit and run trow and you want to make him pay everytime he tries it souless are the only way to ensure that. The trow can run as fast as he wants but he won't be able to escape all the spears. The more souless the better. Archer heros have the same benefits as souless only they are much better at it. 4 archer heros can take down a trow from an elevated position. Barring this the next best bet is mixed infantry. Trow can't shift click so if you mix up your infantry you can cause some major moonwalking in the trows. Placing artillery in the middle of a loose formation of infantry can be a very effective protection against trow.

						                           Ignore Trow
That's right. Most of the time they are just being used to distract you and to try and get you to blow yourself up. If you ignore them you will be doing yourself a big favor and you can avoid major mistakes (like blowing yourself up). Chasing trow could lead to many bad things such as he could lead you to a wight and then kick you at his leisure or lead you into some of his own artillery and BOOM you are gone. He could also be trying to lead you away from your artillery so another trow can come in and kick them. It is of the utmost importance to ignore trow with artillery. Firing at trow can lead to disastrous consequences. If a trow charges you artillery take one shot and then hit the space bar.  Don't drop satchels either. If you drop satchels the trow will just stop and you have made yourself an open target to other artillery; not to mention the satchels will blow up anyway when the trow kicks you. If a trow wants to kick your dwarves let him! It is much better then doing his job for him. Just hit the space bar and force him to take the damage.

																														You Ain't In Kansas No More
Zerks battles are way different then warriors battles. 12 zerks vs 9 zerks will be a terrible slaughter. 27 zerks and trow vs 27 zerks will be the same way. In a zerk battle just being at a little bit of a numerical disadvantage can lead to slaughter. Also vet zerks are much more dangerous then vet warriors. This is because zerks are all offense and no defense. Couple that with their incredible attacking speed and a small disadvantage quickly turns into a huuuuuuge one.  If you are going to have a zerk fight make sure you have the numbers advantage or you get a dwarf to soften them up first otherwise it is just a crap shoot. And for the love of God don't run once engaged in a zerk fight unless you are 150% sure it will lead to victory later.