On Feb 19, 2006, at 11:15 PM, Brandon J. Van Every wrote:
Rusty Russell wrote: Indeed, previously I was using them at the ford, and for Mountain Pass. Now I only get 'em once I'm in the Dwarven realm, when they aren't even useful. Did someone decide that Griffons kick too much ass on the earlier levels or something? I didn't see them as a big deal.
Scott made that change for storyline reasons (you need dwarves to ride the gryphons, because nothing else is fierce enough to tame them, and light enough to ride them), which I wholeheartedly endorse.
You do leave the dwarven realm after you get the sceptre, and they become useful once again. That said, I think it would be a nice touch for us to design some special levels wherein having the gryphons makes a big difference - in fact, I wouldn't mind seeing a new branch (a la "Isles of the Damned") made to reward players who get them.
I currently subscribe to the ....
To summarize what usually works well for wesnoth strategy; Use mostly level-1 units, backed up by more powerful troops used both for their special abilities, and the ability to either deal or absorb large amounts of damage without getting killed.