Medieval Heroes II is a historical strategy game.
The game area consists of a great number of provinces. At the beginning, the player controls some of these provinces. Every province gives some resources (gold, metal and stone) to the person who controls it.
You can spend collected resources on recruiting new troops and capture new territories with their help. You can use your special forces for scouting, robbing and assassinating your enemies.
You can also build castles, fortify them, and build additional buildings like markets or banks.
During the game your hero will get experience and you can improve his skills.
There are several missions in the game. Your goal is to unite all of the provinces under your control.
* Palm OS 5.0 or higher
* 8-bit or 16-bit color high resolution display
* 2.9 Mb of free storage memory for version without additional music, 3.7 Mb for version with additional music (some of Sony Clie devices are not supported)
Note: Before the installation make sure that your device meets the System Requirements.
1) Make sure you delete any old versions of Medieval Heroes II before installing this one!
2) Unpack the package you downloaded to any directory.
3) Using the "Palm Install Tool", install MHeroes2.prc on your handheld device: Double clicking on the "prc" file should bring up to Palm install utility. Click "Done" in this utility and the next time you HotSync the application will be installed.
4) If you wish to hear additional music you can install MH2music.pdb: Double click on the file and click "Done" in Palm install utility. Note: sound effects are not available for Sony Clie devices with Palm OS earlier than 5.2.
5) Synchronize your device.
6) Enjoy the game!
If you like Medieval Heroes II you can register it by purchasing online on http://www.palmgear.com. After you receive your key, you need to enter it in the 'Register' option of the main menu.
Registering Medieval Heroes II gives you the additional advantages:
* 5 missions with different map sizes
* 4 difficulty levels
* 10 types of units
* Hot-seat game allowing up to 6 people playing
* Ability to control your units in battles
* Ability to set up your starting province and your hero skills
* Ability to install additional missions
* Free Map Editor for MS Windows
After selecting "New Game" in the main menu, the New Game preferences screen appears.
Here you can select a mission, its difficulty level, and the number of human players.
Press the "Start" button to set up starting conditions of the selected mission.
Pressing the "<…>" button opens "Select a Mission" screen.
You can select a mission in the left part of the screen.
The description of the selected mission is placed in the right part of the screen. Here you can see the mission name, mini map, mission base difficulty, number of provinces and the number of players in the mission. Below, you can see a short mission description.
This option allows you to choose the game's difficulty level. It will affect the strength of AI players.
You can set up the number of Human Players for the selected mission.
You can select multiplayer mode if the number of human players is more than one. Only Hot-seat mode is available now.
Here you can set up starting conditions of the selected mission: the Color of your flag, your Capital, and your Hero.
You can change the skills of your hero by pressing the "Knight" button. The hero has 6 Skill Points that you can distribute between 3 skills.
Army units are the type of soldiers available for the selected hero.
Note: Each player has 4 combat arms, which are preset throughout the game.
The game begins when all human players set up their starting conditions.
Up to 6 players may participate in each mission. Each player will take on the persona of a medieval "Hero" while playing the game. Heroes utilize the following parameters with which to play, interact with other "Heroes", and win the game.
The parameters are Skills and Experience.
Each hero has 3 skills - Battle, Building and Stealth.
Battle - affects the strength of attack/defense of all the heroes units in battles.
Building - affects the speed and the costs of constructing, completing, and the repairing of castles.
Stealth - affects the success probability in secret operations - scouting, assassination and robbing. It also affects the failure probability of enemy agents in operations against the hero.
Heroes will get experience after victorious battles, success in assassinating or robbing enemies, as well as building castles and other structures.
You can use the experience to improve your hero skills.
This is the map screen of the game. By using the controls on this screen, you can do all of the actions available in the game.
Hint: to get more information on any of the icons on the map screen just tap them.
There are two User Interface layouts – one for portrait & square display orientations, and one for landscape display orientation.
On the top of the map screen you can see a panel with menu button, the "Recruit" and the "Domain" buttons, your treasury, and the "End Turn" button.
Click the menu button on the top left corner of the screen to open a pop-up menu. The menu list has numerous options you can choose: Report, Trading, Improve Skills, Game Preferences, Abandon Game, Exit To Menu and Exit MH II.
In the Report scroll the important events which have occurred during last turn and concern your hero are listed. Abandon Game ends your current game and returns to the start menu. Exit To Menu saves your current game and returns to the main menu. Exit MH II saves your current game and returns to the OS.
Use the "Recruit" button to switch the map to recruitment mode.
Use the "Domain" button to switch the map to domain mode. In this mode you can get information about players and their domains.
In the center of the map screen you can see the map divided into provinces. Your flag will mark the location of your campaign army on the map.
To perform any action on the map you have to select a province first. The currently selected province flashes smoothly.
Note: a double-click lets you perform any available (default) action in addition to province selection. Default action is shown as the icon above the selected province.
Information on the currently selected province is displayed on the bottom panels (right panels in landscape screen orientation). Here you can see the province name and income. In portrait screen orientation you can also see 2 buttons ("guardian army and castle panel" and "campaign army panel"). Pressing one of the buttons expands or contracts the corresponding panel.
Below, the information on the guardian army is shown. If the province belongs to you and your campaign army is in the province then the "Merge" button will be available. Use it to quickly transfer all units from the guardian army to the campaign army.
If the province belongs to your opponent, then the information on the guardian army may not be available, and either "Scout" or "Assassination" may appear in the right corner.
Below, the information on the province's castle and its structures is shown. If the province belongs to you then the "Castle" button will be available. If enemy's capital is selected, then the "Robbery" button will appear.
On the bottommost of the panel the information on the campaign army is shown. The number of campaign army moves left is shown in the right corner. "Move", "Transfer" or "Attack" buttons can also appear in the right corner.
Use the "Move" button to move the campaign army to the selected province.
Use the "Transfer" button to transfer units between your campaign and guardian armies.
Use the "Attack" button to attack the selected province with your campaign army.
Use the "Move" button on the map screen to move the campaign army to the selected province. The button appears when the selected province belongs to you, your campaign army is not there yet and it has enough moves to reach the land, and the province can be reached without crossing the enemy area.
You can attack neighboring provinces with your campaign army by using the "Attack" button on the map screen. If the guardian army is present on the target province then the battle will begins.
You can enable Quick Battle option to quickly get the results of the battle. Computer will automatically give orders to your units during the battle in this mode and the battlefield will be hidden. You may also see the Quick Battles option in game preferences.
If the quick battle mode is not selected then the battlefield will appear after you push the "Attack" button.
Note that attacking ends your turn immediately!
You can transfer units between your campaign army and guardian army by using the "Transfer" button. The button appears on the map screen when your campaign army is positioned on the selected province.
Use the "Recruit" button on the map screen to open the recruit screen.
To recruit new units select the province (or several provinces) first. Recruits will arrive to the guardian army of the selected province on the end of your turn. If your campaign army is present on the province then new units will join it instead of guardian army.
On the top of the screen (top-right panel for landscape screen orientation) you can see the "Accept" and the "Trade" button, and your treasury. Use the "Accept" button to leave the mode and accept your recruit order. Use the "Trade" button to trade resources at your home market.
In the top of the bottom panel (bottom-right panel for landscape screen orientation) you can see your current selection.
Below, you can select units you wish to recruit by pressing the button with unit icon. On the top part of the button you can see the information on the total number of recruited units in the selected provinces. On the bottom part of the button the information on the total number of units in the guardian armies of the selected provinces is shown.
Note: pushing the "Cancel" button in the right part of the panel will cancel your recruit order on the selected provinces.
Below, you can set the number of units you wish to order. The number of units you can order per turn is limited and depends on the number of provinces you have in your domain.
In the bottom part of the panel the short information about the selected unit is shown. You can press the round button with question icon to see the unit description.
In the top part of the screen you can see the resources that are left in your treasury after recruiting.
Note: you do not need to confirm your recruit order. New units will join on the end of your turn immediately.
Each combat arm has the following attributes: Melee and Ranged Attack damages, Health Points, Move Speed and extras.
Melee and Ranged Attack damages are the damages that will be inflicted by each unit on the squad during the attack stage in the battle. These damages will be subtracted from the Health Points of the defending unit.
Move Speed is the number of cells the unit can pass on the ground per one battle round.
Extras are the extra bonuses for the unit during the battle.
Use the "Scout" button of the map screen to open the scout scroll.
This scroll allows you to send a scout to an enemy province that is selected on the map. The scout can collect information on the enemy's guardian army and the castle of the selected province. Note that scouting the enemy castle is a very expensive operation!
The scout's probability of success depends on your and your enemy's stealth skills.
You can assassinate the enemy forces after successful scouting.
If you want to assassinate some of the enemy's troops, you can usethe special operation named Assassination. This operation will only be available after successful scouting.
Select a neighboring province of your enemy and press the "Assassination" button on the map screen. This will open the scroll that allows you to send assassins to the selected province.
Note: you need a whole turn to complete this operation.
The probability of success depends on the number of assassins you send, and your and your enemy's stealth skills. The total number of provinces in the enemy's domain will also affect the chance of success. It is easier to catch enemy agents in a small domain than in a big empire.
Pressing the"Accept" button will initiate operation and will end your turn.
In the case of success, up to 50% of the enemy's guardian army will be killed, and your hero will receive experience points. Note that castle protects enemy army and halves enemy losses!
If you want to try and steal some resources from your enemy's treasury then you can use the special operation named Robbery.
Select the capital of your enemy and press the "Robbery" button on the map screen. This will open the scroll that allows you to send raiders to the selected province.
Note: you need a whole turn to complete this operation.
The probability of success depends on the number of raiders you send, and your and your enemy's stealth skills. The total number of provinces in the enemy's domain will also affect the chance of success. It is easier to catch enemy agents in a small domain than in a big empire.
Pressing the "Accept" button will initiate the operation and end your turn.
Each of the raiders will steal 15% of resources from enemy's treasury in the case of success. The total number of resources stolen can't be more than 75% of enemy's treasury. Your hero will also receive experience points after successful raiding.
Castles allow you to strengthen your position on your lands. Their walls protect your units during sieges and halve the effectiveness of enemy archers. It halves your losses after assassination. It also makes the rebellion impossible on the province with a castle.
Castles will also increase the income of the province by 5 gold coins.
Use the "Castle" button on the map screen to open the castle management scroll. This scroll allows you to build castles and its structures.
Notes:
You cannot stop the building; you can only demolish it.
Your hero will receive experience points after building a castle or its structures.
To build a castle, select the province without a castle first. Pressing the "Castle" button will open the Build a Castle scroll.
The building cost and the number of remaining resources in your treasury are shown on the scroll.
The number of turns needed to build a castle is shown below the cost field. It depends on the building skill of your hero.
You can dig a moat after you build a castle. The moat will slow down enemy units assaulting castle.
It takes one turn to dig the moat.
It is possible to strengthen the castle's defense strength by installingcatapults on its towers. Tower catapults will destroy enemy troops with Greek fire.
It takes one turn to build each catapult.
Castles can have up to 2 tower catapults and the capital can have up to 4 catapults installed.
You can reinforce the castle with additional walls.
It will take a 50% more time to destroy fortified walls for your enemy. Tower catapults will be also harder to destroy.
It takes one turn to complete the building.
Markets will make trading more profitable. The more markets you have the cheaper you can exchange resources.
It takes one turn to complete the building.
To additionally increase the income of the province you can build a bank, a metal mine and a stone mine.
Bank will raise your income by 5 gold coins per turn.
Metal mine will raise your income by 5 metals per turn.
Stone mine will raise your income by 5 stones per turn.
After successfully capturing of an unfinished castle of your enemy you can complete the building. Otherwise the castle will be unfinished and useless.
The number of turns needed to build a castle is shown below the cost field. It depends on the building skill of your hero.
Castle will be automatically repaired after the siege. The repairing speed depends on the building skill of your hero.
It can take many turns to complete the repairing and you may want to speed up the process. Use the "Fast Repair" button to repair your castle in one turn. Note that this operation will take much of resources from your treasury.
You can demolish your castle and its structures and get some metal and stone resources. After demolishing the castle the income of the province will fall to the base value.
Note: you can't demolish your capital.
Domain Mode is the special map view. In this mode you can get information about players and their domains.
Use the "Domain" button on the map screen to switch the map to "Domain" mode.
To leave the mode, use the "Return" button in the top left part of the screen.
In the center of the screen you can see the Domains Map area. The selected domain flashes smoothly.
Information on the currently selected domain is displayed on the bottom panel (bottom-right panel for landscape screen orientation). Here you can see the name of the hero and his skills. In the bottom of the panel you can see the total number of provinces and castles in the domain and the estimated domain income for one turn.
You can trade resources at your home market. Select Trading on the menu list to go into the trading scroll.
The amount of each resource currently in your treasury is shown at the bottom of the scroll.
On the left side of the scroll there are buttons with resource icons. Press the desired button to select the resource you wish to sell on the market.
In the right part of the scroll there are buttons with market resources. Press one of these buttons to select the resource you wish to get from the market.
In the center of the scroll the barter price is shown. Here you can also see the amount of resources you wish to trade. Pressing the "Accept" button in the center of the scroll will accept trading operation.
You need to press the "Accept" button on the bottom of the scroll to accept all trading operations you did. Pressing the "Cancel" button cancels all trading operations and restores your treasury as it was before trading.
You can improve the skills of your hero when enough experience points (EP) are accumulated. Click Hero Skills on the menu list to open the Skill scroll.
In order to raise your hero's level you need to collect the following number of experience points:
250 EP for level 2, 500 EP for level 3, 1000 EP for level 4, 2000 EP for level 5, and so on.
On each level your hero will get one additional Skill Point that you can add to one of 3 skills.
Different events may happen on your lands. Some of them are good and some are bad.
Every province with weak guardian army without a castle can rebel against its owner.
In the case of rebellion, the battle with rebels will take place in the province. If the rebellion is successful then the province becomes independent.
The income of the province can also fall after the rebellion.
When your hero troops encounter enemy troops in a province, they go into action.
The battle starts and you need to arrange your army on the battlefield first.
The battle sequence is broken into rounds. You can give orders to your troops and war machines each round during the battle.
The battle goes on until one of the armies is destroyed or until one of the heroes retreats. The winner receives experience points in addition to the province. Note: when the capital of the player is captured, his domain will pass to the winner.
You can see the battlefield in the center of the screen. A hexagonal grid is shown if "Show grid" option is on in the battle preferences.
The attacker's army always acts from the left part of the battlefield, and defending army is on the right part. The troops of each side are colored with the flag color of their hero.
All of the soldiers of one type gather in one or in several squads. Each squad occupies one cell on the battlefield and is displayed as one icon. Near each squad the number of its units is shown if "Hide count of units" option has not been selected in the battle preferences.
During a siege, trebuchets and tower catapults may also take part in a fight. Trebuchets are shown in the top left corner of the battlefield, and tower catapults are shown in the middle of battlefield.
On the bottom of the screen you can see a battle control panel.
In the leftmost part of the panel the menu button is placed. The Menu list has numerous options you can choose: Retreat from the battlefield, Help, Battle Preferences and Abandon Game.
In the left part of the panel you can see short information on the currently selected squad – the number of units in the squad, health points (HP) left on the weakest unit and the base number of HP for the selected combat arm.
In portrait and landscape display orientations you can also see detailed information on the currently selected squad. Otherwise (square display), you can see the "Info" button after the short squad description. Press this button to get detailed information on selected squad.
During the initial army arrangement you may see the "Split" button in the middle of the panel. It will allow you to split the squad into 2 groups.
If one of your own squads was selected during the battle then you may also see "Defend", "Move" or "Attack" buttons in the middle part of the panel. See Commanding troops for more details.
During the siege the "Drawbridge" button can appear in the right part of the panel. You can lower or raise the drawbridge by pushing this button.
In the rightmost part of the panel you can see "Auto Battle" button. Pushing this button will activate auto ordering mode. In this case the computer will give orders to your squads. Note that your squads may still carry out previous orders, and the computer will give a new order to each squad who became "free" (without orders).
You may break this mode at any time by pushing "Auto Battle" button again.
Before the beginning of the battle it is necessary to place the armies on a battle field. The area accessible to troop allocation is displayed as a highlighted hexagon on the grid.
To change troop arrangements, just choose the squad you wish to relocate and specify its new position. It is possible to give orders to the squad and to confirm the actions by pressing the check mark.
You can also split the squad into 2 groups if Allow splitting option of the battle preferences is enabled. Press the "Split" button on the battle panel to do the splitting. Note: no more than 6 squads are allowed on the battlefield for each player.
Press the "Start" button in the right corner of the battle control panel to start the battle.
Battle sequence is broken into rounds. Each troop can perform only one action per combat round. But you can give more complex orders like attack the distant unit with melee attack. Your order will be automatically divided into simple actions, like "move to target" and "attack it" upon reaching.
There are three types of orders you can give to your army: "defense", "move" and "attack".
Press the "Defend" button on the panel if you want to skip a turn for a selected squad. This will give a 30% defense bonus for your squad.
Select your squad and the destination cell on the battlefield. It is possible to select a distant cell that will be unreachable in current battle round. In that case the unit will try to reach the destination cell in the following rounds.
Pushing the "Move" button on the panel will give the move order to your squad.
To attack an enemy squad, just select it on the battlefield and press the "Attack" button on the battle panel. It is possible to select an enemy squad that will be unreachable in current battle round. In that case unit will try to reach the target and attack it when it will be possible.
If the Expert Mode Attack option has been selected in the battle preferences then you will also need to select the space for your squad to attack from.
Note: you can only perform a ranged attack if there are no enemies adjacent to your squad.
Damage caused by melee or a ranged attack of the squad is determined by this formula:
Some random value between 50 and 100 is chosen. The value also depends on attacking and defending heroes' battle skills. The hero with stronger skills will cause more damages and will be more successful in defending.
The resulting value is multiplied by the number of units in the attacking squad. This value is multiplied by the unit's base damage.
Finally, all damage bonuses are added or subtracted from the last value.
The result is the amount of caused damage.
This damage is subtracted from the defending squad's health points. Units with HP that are less then zero dies.
During the fight any of the battling heroes can give the armies the order to retreat. The only time an army cannot retreat is when it defends the castle.
To retreat, it is necessary to choose "Retreat" from the battle menu.
The army of the retreating hero will lose half of its army. Note: the hero cannot be lost when retreating!
There are additional fortifications on the battlefield during a castle siege. These are the walls or fortified walls, the moat and the drawbridge.
Castle walls reduce the ranged attack effectiveness by 50%.
The moat reduces enemy units moving speed by 50%. Units can not cross the moat until a section of the wall is collapsed.
When defending the castle, if the gate is undamaged and you have not been invaded, you can control the drawbridge on the battle control panel. By lowering the drawbridge, you can allow your army to leave the castle to attack the invaders.
There are also can be war machines like tower catapults and trebuchet.
Trebuchets are stone throwing machines that use counterbalance and sling principle. They were used to destroy walls during a castle siege.
You need to prepare your trebuchet for the siege battle. This will take some resources from your treasury.
You can control the trebuchet during the battle, if the War machines auto control option is disabled in the battle preferences. You need to select a target you want to destroy in this case. Only walls and tower catapults can be a target for trebuchet.
Tower catapults will attack with Greek fire, which is deadly for all kind of troops.
You can control your tower catapults during the battle, if the War machines auto control option is disabled in the battle preferences. You need to select a target you want to attack in this case. Any cell outside the castle and its moat can be a catapult's target.
Disabling the End Turn Confirmation option hides messages which warn you about ending of your turn.
At the beginning of the battle, the Quick Battles option is offered to the player to fight in the quick battle mode. In this mode, the computer will automatically give orders to your army during the battle. The battlefield will be hidden in this mode.
Enabling the Fast Army Move option hides animation of campaign army's movements on the map. This will increase its movement speed.
When the Report After Turn option is used, the report with the list of important events will be displayed before the start of your turn. The report at any moment also can be seen, by pressing the Report menu item on the map screen menu.
Use Show grid option to show hexagonal grid on the battlefield.
Use the Hide count of units option to hide the total number of units alive (shown near each squad) on the battlefield.
Computer will automatically give orders to your trebuchets or tower catapults if the War machines auto control option is enabled.
Enabling the Allow splitting option allows you to split your armies to several squads. Note that no more than 6 squads are allowed to be on the battlefield for each player.
Enabling the Expert Mode Attack option allows you to give an advanced "attack" order. You will need to select an enemy squad to attack and the place for your squad to attack from.
Campaign army - An army that can be moved from one province to another and with its help the hero can seize the provinces and domains of opponents.
Capital – The main castle of the player. In case of the capture of the capital of the player, his domain (without any guardian forces) passes to the winner.
Domain - The independent territory that consists of one or several provinces, seized by the player (hero).
Guardian army - The army that constantly is in the territory of the province and protects it in case of an enemy invasion. If the opponent attacks a province where both campaign and guardian armies present, these armies merge for defense.
Independent Province - A province that does not belong to any of players (heroes).
Lord, Hero - Independent ruler.
Province - One of the geographic areas that the map is divided into. Each Province gives some resources (gold, metal and stone) to the person who controls it.
Treasury – Resources collected from the domain of the player.
If you are experiencing problems with Medieval Heroes II or have any questions or comments, please, contact us at support@medievalheroes.com.
Document Version 1.10
©2004-2007 Arcona Magi