Anti-Turtling Incentives: There are two particular anti-turtling incentives on this map. The first comes in the form of a thief carrying a Starsphere Shard who’s trying to run off the edge of the map. Considering how important Starsphere Shards are to Fire Emblems 3 & 12 this is a big deal so you’re going to want to kill that thief. This is made more difficult by the fact that said thief is running towards Astram’s army of powerful mercenaries. Any movement in their range will cause them to charge at the player’s army. This will make the chapter 10 times more difficult for the player so you have to watch your step when eliminating the thief.
The second anti-turtling measure provided by this chapter comes from Astram and his army of mercenaries. Eventually these guys will move toward the player. How early they move is dependent on the difficulty. Most difficulties in Fire Emblem 12 won’t have them start moving until Turn 8. On Lunatic mode (and maybe Reverse Lunatic mode. I’m not sure about this one) they move on Turn 6. In Fire Emblem 3 Book 2 Hardin will also move alongside his generals. By this point in the game Hardin is unbeatable so even he counts as an anti-turtling incentive.
Terrain: The terrain of this chapter is pretty interesting. There are two bridges that are two spaces wide. One bridge is to the north of the player while the other is to the player’s south. This helps to create ideal conditions for sandwiching the player should they make the mistake of playing too slowly. There’s a random village off the player’s right where Bantu joins the player. I personally don’t think Bantu’s worth it, but trying to recruit him does make the chapter just a little more difficult.
Enemy Positioning: First you’ve got Paladins that will charge at you on the bridge, then after them you have to deal with a wave of Generals that will prevent you from making it to the top of the bridge. The chapter also gives you Roger, who can be recruited by Caeda. Astram’s army is positioned behind the player with the intent of attacking them from behind. There are also some well placed Snipers to the north near the boss. These guys serve two purposes. The first is to prevent fliers from swooping over toward the boss and the second is that they can help deal additional damage while the player deals with the enemy Generals. The enemy boss, Jeorge, is recruitable with either Marth or Gordin which is a nice twist that helps the player put a little more thought and effort into the map.
Overall: This is a solid map. The anti-turtling incentive is powerful, the bridges are well placed and the enemies are positioned well so that the player has to think about how they will move next. This is the type of quality that’s common throughout Fire Emblem 3 Book 2 and Fire Emblem 12.
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