You'll need a guide. I remember trying it once and it's way less linear in everything. Even stuff like unlocking fairly basic units isn't straight forward. A lot of stuff is based on alignment and time of day.

>>744538127
>what am I in for
kino
look up Chaos Frame, it's almost entirely unexplained in the game and it's the morality system that dictates things like the ending you get and can affect which characters you can add to your army
middle tiles are useful if you want an archer or something to be able to hit every tile on the opposing squad, or if you set up a golem/dragon squad, the front middle tile is useful for your doll master/dragon tamer

>>744538127
there are secrets that exist that you would only reasonably find out about through a guide book or spoiler webpage. >>744538927

> middle squad isles
i assume you mean the middle row of the squad layout 3x3.
basically critical hits do not just deal additional damage but also displace a figure backwards.
if a figure can do two attacks from the front line row, one attack from the middle row and a different/special combo attack from the rear row, then if it becomes their turn to make their attack they will do so from whatever position they're at.
the middle row exists so a first turn critical that displaces an enemy (or friendly) that would've attacked twice, can force them into a position that causes them to only attack once.

but obviously if a second figure is behind the first figure, then the first figure can not be displaced backwards (until the figure behind them has)

>>744538127
worse than the og tbqh outside of some qol stuff. Also ignore legions entirely. Trust me

>>744539974
and i forgot to mention:
some enemy squad layouts are designed to account for a critical attack on the figures, to put them into a position where they can do a more powerful attack. especially if you've attacked from the flank or rear, where the formation will rotate to account for the new direction and make a critical hit actually empower the enemy instead of weaken them.

but unfortunately, the majority of OB64's enemy layouts are a fucking joke, 99% of fights are head-on with no flanking, and the game usually remains piss-easy throughout.

>>744540034
>legions

"Hey, what if we allowed the player to lock up to five squads together in a formation on the world map, and made sure the legion leader's group was as weak as possible by requiring every figure to be a Generic Soldier with the weakest attack in the game?"

> "What does it do?"
"It lets the player get an additional reinforcement attack based on the number of generic soldiers in the legion leader's squad."

> "Does any other unit in the legion help?"
"No."

> "No healing or combat magic or ranged attack reinforcement attacks?"
"No."

> "Shouldn't we at least allow the generic soldiers in the other groups to join in the reinforcement attack to strengthen it?"
"No."

> "And the enemy is going to use this feature?"
"Kind of."

> "Will it be a sequence of each legion unit taking their own combat turns against their matching opponent in a much longer, forced combat sequence?"
"No, they get thrown back after the first fight like always."

> "Ok, sounds great, put it in."

>>744538127
It will take you a long time, even without the grind and not knowing about the liberation condition of cities deciding your alignment that the game never tells you about. You will reach at least one point in the game where you think it is over only for the game to keep going.

I say this as someone who played on OG hardware and on an emulator with an accelerator.

>>744538127
kino but not as good as the first game, play that first imo
theyre only hard if you play really bad, if you end up digging yourself in a hole its not that hard to get out

>>744539974
Oh so front line attack twice and middle row once? I kept here for people for years that they never figured out what the middle row was for. Did not know about the displacement of being pushed back as well. That makes battles sound more interesting.

>>744541958
>Oh so front line attack twice and middle row once?
Depending on the exact type of unit classification the figure it is, they will get some combination of front::middle::rear number of attacks in a combat against the enemy. This is also stated in the interface in-game, though it's easy to ignore.
For example, the units which are designated as "Ranged" classes will get more attacks from rear than from front... And likewise the "Melee" classes will get more attacks from the front than from the rear. There's also damage multipliers depending on position.

>Did not know about the displacement of being pushed back as well.
It requires the space behind the figure to be open, and for a critical to happen. If you use specific layouts to your squad, or your squad is powerful enough to kill the enemy before they attack, then knock-backs can be totally prevented except in freak RNG moments.

>>744541694
I remember realizing that since training never passes the time I just wound up grinding up the MC, blitzed town captures with my dudes, then sent my main guy down to kill the boss.

File: Simp of War.png (1.82 MB, 3428x1992)

1.82 MB PNG

>>744538127
Much less linear campaign, but less granularity in controlling your squad AI. If you want the squad building in game with a simpler turn-based grid-map system there's Symphony of War. OB64 is still excellent but since the squads are the main pull I think I prefer SoW since it's much more direct.

>>744538127
unicorn overlord is trash. like a cheap imitation that has a retarded weeb story that exists just for waifu fags to marry someone at end.