Songs of Conquest: Armies and Battles Songs of Conquest guide, tips

This Songs of Conquest guide page will give you useful information about the army and battles - dividing troops, defending and conquering settlements.

Last update: 12 June 2024

On this page of the Songs of Conquest guide we will cover commanding armies and fighting battles. We have compiled practical advice on winning battles and using the right tactics. You will also find useful information about army composition, sieging cities and defending settlements that are controlled by your faction.

• Key information about the armies
• Division of troops
• Relocating troops
• Battles
• Defending settlements
• Conquering settlements and sieges

Key information about the armies

1. The army is the most important resource in the game and each character in the game has their own separate army. You can recruit new soldiers in a variety of ways and we have compiled them on the Recruiting and upgrading troops page.
2. The maximum number of troops comprising a wielder's army depends on his Command skill, which you can upgrade as reach higher levels. There is a maximum number of units allowed within a troop (e.g. 30 archers). However, you can enhance it with the right technologies. Both of these topics are described in more detail on the FAQ page How to expand a character's army?.
3. Each unit is described with statistics and you can view them by hovering your cursor over their portraits (example in the image) or by finding them in the codex. Pay special attention to the essences associated with a particular type of unit (it can generate points of these essences during battles), as well as the damage and attack power.

Division of troops

1. You can manage your troops and divide them into smaller groups. To do this, simply drag a unit to an empty space in the army (or to the space of a unit of the same type). A tab will then appear allowing you to select how you want to transfer (all or equal split).
2. This will result in lower troop strength, but will double the essence generation (you acquire it not from the number of troops, but from the number of units). This also makes sense when fighting a very strong opponent who can knock out an entire troop with a single attack. You can then lose only a part of your troop, not the whole troop in one go, while making your opponent lose a round. It's a sacrifice that is sometimes necessary.

Relocating troops

1. The army can also be shared with other wielders and even settlements. If you want to combine two armies, just interact between them and move (by dragging) the units of interest from one trustee to the other. Furthermore, you can transfer your entire army using the arrows at the bottom.
2. It is worth remembering that trustees cannot stay without troops. He must always have at least one soldier.
3. A good tactical move might be to delegate a weaker wielder to supply troops to the main character. They can travel through cities and other locations with the option to recruit units, return with them to the main character and move them.

Battles

1. A battle can be started by approaching an enemy army, an enemy wielder or an enemy city and interacting. If you get close enough, you will be able to check the approximate challenge level first before starting the fight. This is useful if you want to avoid unnecessary losses. Avoid attacking orange or red enemies.
2. If you are the one who is attacking, you can get out of the fight. It is worse if they attack you, then unfortunately this possibility does not exist.
3. The game also offers a quick battle option. This means that the computer will carry out the battle automatically. The advantages and disadvantages of this option are described in detail on the page Should you use quick battle?. You shouldn't entirely avoid automated fights, just choose them with caution.
4. Before the battle, you can also preview the predicted composition of your opponent's army. It is displayed in the corner of the screen. You won't know it 100%, but you can learn about the types of units. In the case of enemy wielders, you can also learn about their level and essences used.

1. Before the battle, the game offers you a board with the outlined terrain of the clash. Within it, you can deploy units, but only on designated fields (in your color).
2. It's also worth taking a look at the High Ground fields (highlighted in the screenshot above). Hills give a bonus to defense and attack. In addition, they make ranged soldiers have a longer range. It's worth putting archers and other ranged troops there, especially since they don't have to move as much as melee troops.

1. Once the battle begins, you can see the portraits of the wielders (if both sides have them), their levels and the essence they possess in the right and left corners of the screen.
2. If you look in your top corner, there is a small arrow next to your hero's head (to his right). It gives control of the battle back to the computer. If you take this option, there will be no turning back and you will only be left to watch the AI make decisions for you.
3. Underneath the bust of the wielder there are recommended available spells (which your essence allows you to cast). By default, they are selected for quick access automatically, based on their strength. However, you can change this in the spell settings. If you want to see all the spells, just press the scroll icon.
4. At the beginning of each round (that is, when all units have completed their turns), you will receive a passive essence that allows you to cast spells. You draw it from your wielders' skills, technology and seized buildings. In addition, at the beginning of each turn you will get the essence of the active squad.
5. At the bottom of the screen there's a visualization of the movements by round. It is worth planning your actions according to it. It's often a good idea to attack a unit that hasn't yet made its move in the round and hasn't contributed to the opponent's essence pool. The order of troops' turns is determined by their initiative. During their turn, soldiers can move and attack, but attacking ends their movement (unless they have the double attack skill/spell). We discussed how Initiative works more extensively on the page How to increase Initiative?.
6. There is an end of turn button in the bottom right corner should you decide to end the turn prematurely.

1. After selecting a ranged unit or hovering over an enemy unit, orange circles will appear. They show the attack range of a particular unit.
2. The first circle shows the area where the squad is most effective and deadly. The second, on the other hand, presents the maximum firing range, although the troops will no longer inflict the biggest damage.

1. The green border when selecting an allied troop (or the red border when hovering over an enemy troop) shows the unit's movement range. It is a good idea to check how far the enemy can go in a given round. Sometimes it is worth it to wait him out a bit to deal his troops the first blow.

If you hover over an enemy unit, you will see blood-red fields. It is their zone of control. If you are going to go through this area without engaging in combat, you must be ready for it to attack your unit on them.

Most troops after promotion (and some before) also have special skills. These are indicated as small icons next to the number of soldiers. It is worth familiarizing yourself with them, as they can sometimes be useful. It can be, for example, strengthening allies standing nearby at the expense of sacrificing a movement in a particular round.

Defending settlements

1. The previously discussed army sharing mechanic works similarly with settlements. Select a wielder, interact with the village and click on the Defense tab. Move units to vacant places in the settlement or incorporate those previously left behind into the wielder's army. Unfortunately, outside of the largest settlements, the settlement's garrison does not provide the opportunity to leave enough troops to effectively defend against an enemy wielder. It won't work even if you build watchtowers to support the defense.
2. Note the green button at the bottom. It allows you to leave the hero in the city, which will give them a chance to defend it. It is also an effective tactic for fighting a stronger army. The settlement gives the bonus of defensive structures and higher terrain. Additionally, you can power it up with defensive forces beforehand, which will significantly boost your combat potential.
3. In particular, we recommend leaving wielders in those cities that are close to hostile areas. This is when the risk that hostile wielders may appear in the area and try to attack your settlement is the greatest.

Conquering settlements and sieges

The main means to achieve victory in the campaign is to capture settlements. If the settlement is neutral, just interact with it. It will immediately come under your control and you will start gaining profits from it (gold, unit recruitment, buildings).

A slightly different issue is the case in which the city is occupied by the enemy. It sometimes leaves a small force to defend itself. It is then necessary to break through them, just like in a traditional battle, except that the enemy is a bit more entrenched. How much? It depends on the type and level of the locality.

After conquering an enemy settlement, two (or in the case of fortresses, 3) options will appear:

1. Occupation - available only for the largest fortresses and allows you to immediately take over the settlement and gain some profits. The fortress does not become fully yours and you cannot build in it.
2. Raze - levels enemy buildings to the ground, after which the settlement becomes yours.
3. Converting the settlement - this option results in a relatively peaceful occupation of the settlement with the preservation of factional buildings, however, you have to wait a bit for this.