Sorcerer Lord
The Players Guide
Brought to you by Belgarath

1. Introduction

The old race stirred from their millenia of stagnation. The Shadowlord had died.

The darkness of the shadowlands deepened as the new Shadowlord took up
the mantle of power and flexed his immortal muscles. The new human races
in the kingdoms of Galanor slept on, unaware that the evil that had been quiet
for all recorded time was stirring. They knew of the shadowlands only as a
place of ancient power, where the Old Race of powerful sorcerers followed
their decadent and incomprehensible pursuits. They had never before shown
any interest in the world outside the shadowlands, although it was known that
any man who dared enter their lands might pay for his boldness with his life,
or worse.

Yet, over the years many men had entered that land. and made their way
to the great and ancient Citadel. seeking knowledge. Some found what they
sought, but were enslaved. A few escaped back to the southern kingdoms.
where they became powerful lords. Sorcerer Lords.

It was thus that the knowledge of Sorcery was passed to man.

The new Shadowlord was young and ambitious. Not content with the
contemplative decadence of his forefathers, he gathered the remnants of the
power of his race, and turned his eye outwards on the world. He wanted the
power of the Rune Rings, the standing stones enchanted by his race before
man was created. when the Golden Empire ruled over all. With this power
he sought to refound the Empire, and make his race supreme once again.

He used his sorcerous power to breed the Wolf riders and warriors, and since
his people were few and reluctant to relinquish their immortality on the field
of battle, he appointed men, warped and enslaved. as their commanders. By
his will the Shadow Legions were formed.

The world on which this onslaught was about to be unleashed was a quiet
and pleasant place. Galanor was made up of the three kingdoms of men,
Rovanium, Morgalion, Herdach. They fought occasional wars, as was the want
of their race, and were constantly fighting the fierce desert barbarians of
Savantor. In the wooded glades of Imryth. the Elven Lords. distant cousins
of the race of the Shadowlord, contemplated nature rather than the Sorcery
of their cousins, and kept to themselves. But they were not without power.	

Even as the Shadowlord.  by his will, ordered the Shadow Legions to invade 
Savantor. a Sorcerer Lord on the side of Men, began, by his will to direct the
Armies of Man and Elf, together, as the   Galanor alliance, against the enemy. 

You are that Sorcerer Lord.


2. Getting Started

To load the game follow the instructions on the cassette or disk. Once the
game has loaded you are presented with   4 options: 

1:  RESTART 2:  SAVE 3:  LOAD 4:  CONTINUE 

To play the game press   4. 

This menu   will  be presented to you at the end of each turn. The other 
options allow you to save game positions and return to them at a later
date, or to go back either to the start of the game, or to the game position
when the game was last saved. 

Select 2  to save the game position and follow the prompts. 

Select 3  to load in a previously saved position. 

Select 1  to go back to the start. If you have saved the game during that 
session, the game will go back to the position at the last save. 

You may find it useful to save the game in the start position, since this 
will allow you to go all the way back to the start, after subsequent saves.
without having to re-load the game. 

Having selected  4 you are presented with the choice: 
SELECT DIFFICULTY LEVEL:   1-3 

This gives the choice of a beginner, advanced or expert game. After choosing
the appropriate option   (1.   2  or  3).  the game begins. 

3. The Aim Of The Game

You must mobilise and gather your forces, resist the initial on slaught of the 
Shadow Legions, and recover any fortresses you loose before the end of the
game. You can win before this by destroying all the Shadow Legions or cap-
turing the Shadowlord Citadel. You can loose before this by loosing all your
leaders. or  Yarthros Citadel. The game ends after  40  moves on the easy level, 
but sooner in the harder levels. 

4. A Quick Guide

The control keys for the game are printed on the ready reference card for
your machine, which you should have found in your package. Various other
bits of useful information are also printed on the card. and will be referred
to from time to time. No doubt some of you, eager to get on with  it,  will pick 
up the card and start playing. If you do. read the section below and good luck. 
but you will need to read the rest of the manual to get the best out of the game. 

The game is played around a fixed sequence of turns and phases. Each turn 
represents one clay of events, and is divided into   5  phases: 

1. Shadowlord Movement 
2.  Shadowlord Combat 
3.  Galanor Alliance 
4.  Galanor Movement 
5.  Galanor Combat 

The main action takes place on the tactical map screen which shows the terrain,
units and fortresses on a hexagon based grid. A cursor can be moved around
the screen using the cursor controls (see card), and placed over any hex. The
map scrolls when the cursor nears the edge.

A strategic map is available to get an overall view of the play area.

During your movement phase you can move the cursor over a unit, pick it
up (see card for controls), select forced or normal march and move it. 

When a unit starts its move in a fortress, you can use the Garrison option
to transfer troops from a leader to and from the fortress garrison. In this way 
you can transfer troops between leaders and build up large armies. 

During your Alliance Phase, you do not do anything, but the mobilization of
leaders is indicated on the strategic map. Only a few leaders are mobilized
each turn. You can add to this by visiting unmobilized fortresses with your
existing leaders during the movement phase.

To attack a shadowlord legion, you simply move your army onto it. A battle 
marker is placed over the battle. During the Combat Phase the battle is resolved 
and the results displayed.

5. Detailed Guide To The Game

There are a number of minor variations in the displays and functioning of the
game on the different machines. The following sections describe the features
common to them all. Later you will find a small section describing the
differences between the different versions. Additional information on your
version can be found on the ready reference card. 

5.1 The Maps

There are two levels of map available to the player: 

The strategic map
The tactical map 

The strategic map covers the whole playing area, showing the terrain types. 
fortress positions, and positions of various active units. Use this to get an overall
impression of your position. 

The tactical map is where the action is. There are several different terrain types 
each of which imposes a restriction on movement: 

Clear         - cost 1 movement point. 
Woods         - cost  2   movement points. 
Hills         - cost  2   movement points. 
Wooded Hills  - cost  3  movement points. 
Mountains     - cost  5 movement points. 
Desert        - cost  2   movement points. 

The  colour  and pattern for each terrain type are shown on the card. Troops 
of different kingdoms have different bonuses for movement and combat in
terrain types in which they feel at home. These are detailed in the section
on the various kingdoms.

The  Shadowlord  legions are, by  sorcerous  means, able to cross areas of water, 
whereas the forces of  Galanor cannot.

5.2 Unit Information Phase

During the movement phase, information on leaders and the armies they 
command is displayed when the cursor is placed over a unit. The basic format 
is: 

LEADER: OLPHID OF IMRYTH READY 
ARMY:  550 WARRIORS 150  RIDERS 
LDR:  6 SOR:  1 FTG:  0 MOVE:  0 

The LEADER field shows the name of the leader. Each   Galanor fortress and 
citadel is the start position of 1 leader.

The READY field shows the movement status of the unit. It is highlighted when 
the unit is picked up by the cursor. It shows one of the   5 possible movement 
modes: 

READY     - Not selected, Move rate undecided
            Available for garrison transfer

NORMAL    - Move rate normal, some movement points left 
            Cannot now use the garrison option
            Unit is currently picked up if highlighted

FORCED    - Moving at a forced march - 1.5  x normal rate 
            Some movement points left
            Garrison option not available
            Unit is currently picked up if highlighted

HALTED    - No movement points left
            Garrison option not available 
            Cannot be picked up and moved 

ENGAGED   - No movement points left 
            Unit occupies same location as enemy unit
            Combat will be resolved in Combat Phase 


The ARMY field gives the number of warriors and riders under that leaders 
command. Note that this may not be the total army in that location. There
may be garrison troops if the location is a fortress or citadel. or other leaders,
with their own armies may be “stacked” with the currently displayed leader.

Use the key indicated on the ready reference card to cycle through the leaders
in a stack.

The bottom line gives the personal statistics of the leader. They vary from
0 to 9.

LDR:  The Leadership ability rating (in battle)
SOR:  The leaders sorcery abilities
FTG:  The armies fatigue factor, caused by combat and forced
      marches
MOVE: The number of movement points left

5.3 Armies And Garrisons

Troops, consisting of riders and/or warriors can either be under the direct
command of a leader. or else be stationed at a fortress or citadel as a garrison
force. On the maps, only the armies under the command of a leader are shown.
Garrisons cannot be moved. except by being recruited by a leader at the start
of his move, and then moved as a normal army. The garrison option is available
at any time during the movement phase (see the reference card for the key).
The cursor is placed over a fortress and the garrison option selected. If there
is no READY leader at that fortress or citadel, all that happens is the size of
the garrison is displayed. If there is a leader ready, the garrison size is displayed,
with three options:

Return  - Exits back to the map
Recruit - Move troops from the garrison to the leader
Station - Move troops from the leader to the garrison

Having selected recruit or station, the computer will prompt you to enter the
number of warriors and riders to move. You can enter any number from 0
to the number available.

This option can be used more than once for each leader/fortress.

5.4 Shadowlord Movement Phase

The first phase of the turn is the Shadowlord movement phase. The player
sits back and watches as the shadow legions roll across the map. engaging
in battle as they go. The shadow legions are fast and do not suffer some of
the terrain restrictions the player has to put up with.

5.5 Shadowlord combat

Once the Shadowlorcl has finished moving his units, the combats are resolved.
For each battle the totals of the opposing forces are displayed. the effect of
any sorcery is determined. and the casualties are displayed. If any leader or
legion is eliminated. a message to that effect is displayed. If an attack fails to
eliminate all the defenders, the attacker is forced to retreat. More on combat
in the Combat section.

5.6 Galanor Alliance

This phase is also played without any input from the player. The computer
determines which leaders are alerted to the Shadowlord attack, and thus
spontaneously come under your control. The name and army size of each
new unit is displayed. This method of mobilization is slow and unreliable, and
must be supplemented by direct recruitment. This is achieved by moving
leaders onto previously unmobilizecl fortresses or citadels. during the
movement phase.

The other component of the alliance phase is reinforcement. Each fortress
and citadel recruits reinforcements from the surrounding countryside. These
new troops arrive periodically, and messages are displayed to that effect.

5.7 Galanor Movement

This is the phase in which the player is active. The Cursor control keys shows
on the reference card can be used to move the flashing cursor around the
map. This is used to inspect, pick up and move units. To inspect a unit, simply
place the cursor over the unit. The unit information display appears above
the map. If the unit is a Shaclowlorcl legion, the information is limited to either
numbers only (if the unit is within visual range) or nothing at all.

To move a unit, place the cursor over that unit and press the select key. If
the unit has not yet moved this turn you are given the options NORMAL or
FORCED. This is the speed at which the unit will travel. Each unit starts with
a number of movement points to “spend” on movement (4 for warriors, 6
for riders). Selecting FORCED march multiplies this by 1.5. The unit status
is highlighted. showing that the unit has been “picked up”. Once a unit has
been picked up, when you move the cursor, the unit will move with the cursor.


As it moves through the various terrain types, movement points will be
deducted, until it runs out. The unit is then automatically dropped and marked
as HALTED.

The unit can be dropped at any time by pressing select (there is a separate 
de-select key on some versions). It will retain any movement points left, and
can be picked up and moved again in the same turn, until all movement points
are used.

Moving at a forced march increases the FATIGUE factor of the troops. This 
can seriously impair their fighting ability, if it gets high.

If a unit is moved on top of a friendly unit, they are said to be stacked. They 
then fight together if attacked. Only the top unit in the stack is displayed. On 
the reference you will see there is a key “NEXT UNIT”. Use this to cycle
through the units, moving each to the top of the stack in turn.

If a unit is moved on top of an enemy unit, it engages in battle. A battle marker
is placed on the map, and the combat is resolved in the combat phase.

When you have completed all movement for the turn. press the END
MOVEMENT key to proceed to combat.

5.6 Combat

There are a large number of factors taken into account during combat 
resolution: 

1. Relative numbers of Riders 
2. Relative numbers of Warriors 
3. Fatigue factors 
4. Leadership values 
5. Terrain type 
6. Leader nationality 
7. The effect of Sorcery 

The relative strengths of warriors and riders is the main factor. Numerical 
superiority is generally required to win. A large numerical superiority is required 
to inflict the heaviest losses with the minimum casualties on your side. 

Fatigue is very important. It seriously impairs the troops fighting capacity. When 
fatigue reaches   9,  the troops cannot move at all, and have little or no fighting 
capacity. Fatigue is reduced by resting in a fortress or citadel.

Leadership values add to the combat rating. The leadership values of the
Shadowlord Legions vary, and are not known to the player.

Certain terrain types restrict the fighting ability of troops.

This effect is negated in certain terrains for certain nationalities of leader. For
example, Elves fight well in the woods. Some racial types have a bonus in
attacks on fortresses and citadels.

Sorcery adds to the combat power of the troops. It ranges in power from weak
to devastating, and is determined by the leaders sorcery skill, and the distance
to the nearest Rune Ring. It is described in detail in the section on Sorcery. 

First choose which unit you are  going to attack by looking at the strengths of possible 
targets.

Move onto your chosen foe. A battle marker is placed on the map. and your units 
status changes to ENGAGED. The battle is resolved when all other movement is 
completed.

First, the strengths of the forces are displayed. Here the player gets a nasty shock.
What he thought was one unit with 5566 warriors is in fact a stack of units totalling
11132 warriors. The player should have cycled through the stack.

Since the battle is close to a Rune Ring, and the  Galanor leader has a good SOR of 
7,  the player is probably disappointed that only MILD SORCERY was summoned. 

The losses are now displayed. Alas the players losses are heavy 

In fact. the player lost all the warriors and riders in the unit. When this happens, the 
unit is destroyed and the leader  eliminated. 

6. Other Features

During the movement phase there are a number of features which you can
access by pressing the indicated key on the reference card.

6.1 The Strategic Map

This can be accessed at any time during movement. It gives a map of the
whole playing area. 

6.2 The War Report

This gives a detailed report on how the war is going. The current clay, losses 
on both sides, and details who is in control of which fortresses, citadels and
Rune Rings. The exact layout may vary from version to version, but the
information is the same. Note that some versions do not give you a key to
bring this display up. but put it up automatically after each combat phase. 

6.3 Turn & Phase

For those of you who forget what clay it is, in some versions a key is provided
which causes the current turn and phase to be displayed. This can be useful 
at the end of the game.

7. Background Information

This section gives details of the races, troops and nations involved, and of 
Sorcery. It is not essential to read this before playing the game, but it is essential
if you wish to play the game well.

7.1 The Shadow Legions

The troop of the shadow legions are of a new race created by the shadowlord.
using men, elves, wolves and more sinister beasts as source material. They
are grotesque featured, short and heavy. They breed fast and have an   inbuilt 
love of fighting. The troops are heavily  armoured  in chain and scale mail (of 
crude manufacture). Their stamina, and ability to forage and eat almost anything 
makes them fast, and they do not fatigue as easily as men. 

Their warriors are armed with wickedly barbed pole arms and morning stars.
The riders favour heavy spears and  morning stars, and ride into battle mounted 
on huge wolves, specially bred for the purpose.

They all carry the wolves head emblem on their shields. 

They are commanded by men, enslaved by the shadowlord, and trained in 
the arts of Sorcery. This sorcery allows the legions to cross water and other
barriers. as well as being useful in battle. 

7.7 The Elves of Imryth

The elves are descended from the immortal race that created the Golden 
Empire, and are thus related to the shadowlord. They turned away from the
lure of worldly power. and spend their time in quiet contemplation in the woods
that they love. They are tall, slim and elegant, but when war threatens, the
accumulated knowledge of the centuries makes them   skilful  and powerful 
warriors. They wear finely worked shirts of chain mail under their camouflaging
cloaks, and fight with long bows and swords. Their riders carry shorter bows
and spears.

The woodcraft of the elves is legendary. They move faster through woods 
than anyone would think possible, and can use their bows through the trees
unlike less skilled troops. They strike   without  warning, wreak havoc, and then 
melt back into the woods. Their method of fighting makes it difficult to estimate
their numbers. What may seem to an enemy or an ally to be a unit of a hundred
men may only be twenty. But who cares  -  they look and fight like a hundred. 
They carry the sun emblem of the Golden Empire on their shields.

7.4 The Barbarians of Savantor

These men have historically preyed on the other mannish kingdoms, but are
now united against the Shadowlord. They are all riders. riding their white and
nimble horses into battle with  unrivalled skill. They are armed with lances and 
swords. but wear no   armour. They are completely at home in the desert and 
plains. and prefer to fight in the open. They carry the sword and star emblem
on their shields and pennants. 

7.5 The Mountain Warriors of Morgalion

These sturdy men look as if they have been carved out of the mountains
themselves. Their long hair and beards adds to their fierce appearance. They 
wear tough  armour  of chain mail and carry huge battle axes into battle. Indeed, 
they  are so fond of the axe that they have adopted it as their emblem. They 
are very skilled at warfare in mountainous areas. but dislike the open plains.

They have also developed considerable skill in the art of siegecraft, and their
siege engines generally accompany them around the battlefield. This makes
them slow, and useful when taking fortresses.

7.6 The Men of Herdach

These men, cousins of the mountain men of Morgalion. inhabit the colder 
mountain areas to the north. They are thus generally seen wearing the
traditional fur  jerkins rather than cumbersome  armour. Like their cousins, they 
do not use horses in battle, but prefer to go on foot. They are armed with 
spears and axes, and carry the cross emblem on their shields. 

7.7 The Men of Rovanium

Rovanium is the most developed of the mannish nations, and their troops are
well equipped and equally able to cope with any conditions. Their warriors
wear full length chain mail coats, and fight with sword and spear. Their riders
are fewer in number, since they are fully   armoured  knights with lance and 
morning star. Some of their leaders are well skilled in the art of Sorcery. 

7.8 Sorcery

There are two main factors which affect the effectiveness of sorcery in battle.
These are the skill of the sorcerer and the distance to the nearest Rune Ring.

The sorcery generally consists of the summoning of a number of demons who
will attack the sorcerers enemies. The power of the sorcery varies as follows:

Weak        - No demon is summoned, but the weather
              conditions are altered in the casters favour.

Mild        - A single minor demon is summoned.

Strong      - A number of minor demons are summoned.

Very Strong - A single major demon is summoned.
Devastating - A host of demons is summoned.

The major demons may well change the course of the battle, but they often
merely inflict additional casualties on the enemy, and ignore the plight of the
summoning sorcerer. Many battles have been lost despite their aid.

8. Strategy and Tactics

This section is deliberately short, since the whole purpose of playing the game
is to develop a winning strategy. You should start off playing the beginner
game, and when that is mastered, move up a level of difficulty.

When playing, keep in mind what your resources are:

Troops
Leaders
Fortresses & Citadels
Terrain
Rune Rings

Try to arrange it so that the right number of troops. with the right leader are
in the right place at the right time. Use the racial bonuses of the leaders to
full effect. Try to mobilise as quickly as possible. Never fight a battle if there
is no chance of winning. Retreat, gather your forces, and counter attack. Beware
of forced marches and fatigue. Use forced marches only when essential. Read
these instructions to get clues as to how to win. Play to win, and enjoy it.


Brought to you by Belgarath