Werewolves for Beginners
"Werewolves" is an eerie thriller starting in the New England states of the late 18. century. The War of Independence against the English mother country has ended some years ago. But just as peace and quiet have returned to the ambitious states at the north-eastern shores, surprisingly a threat from the hinterland appears.
Werewolves are roaming the forests and are terrorizing the settlers. The beasts are of unheard strength and velocity; they materialize out of a sudden, strike and disappear again. In their distress, the citizens of New Englend are recalling a legendary commander of the War of Independence who shall organize their resistance now. Who is this person? Of course it is the experienced hero just reading these lines....
The Gaming World
"Werewolves" comes alive on especially created scenario maps with different difficulty levels. At the beginning, you will start with just some coastal settlements, a ship and some units. The New England settlers are allied with the Micmac, living in a small reservate in a single settlement. The king of the colonial time has been replaced by the US president. At the start, not much will be seen from the werewolves as their dwellings are far in the hinterland. But you should not get lulled by this. When the first werewolves will appear differs from game to game - and the one who is not prepared at that moment has dug his own grave.
Harbor of the Capital and Growth of Population
Instead of a European Harbor there is a Harbor of the Capital now, where you may sell goods to the US president. This is quite lucrative, as prices are dropping only slowly. On the other hand roughly every second immigrant will be an expert unit. Additionally, recruiting experts by spending money has become more difficult, as each additional unit of the same type will cost a bit more. Building of schools and other educational institutions is strongly recommended!
Resources, Bonus Resources and Pioneers
In New England there are some different resources than the ones you may be used to. For instance, for constructing of high-level buildings you have to quarry stones and the settlers will grow hemp and breed cattle. Moreover, the terrain types, the features and the improvements available for building by the pioneers will be unfamiliar for you at the beginning. In "Werewolves" it will be more important than ever before to increase the meager land yields by improvements. To compensate for this, the partially quite expensive improvements will deliver drastically increased bonuses. Bonus resources are rarer, but much more attractive. For instance silver can only be got in noteworthy quantities from the respective bonus resource. Rivers are providing higher bonuses, too. To find the right place for new settlements and defending the improvements against maraudings werewolves will be the key to success.
Fellow Masons
The settlers have already successfully contended for the founding of an independent state, so founding fathers are no longer needed. But still there is the chance to attract prominent comrades-in-arms: Fellow Masons, giving decisive support in the struggle against the werewolves. Some of these fellow masons will appear as individual special unit and will randomly spawn free bonus units. No other party can snatch the fellow masons from under your nose. But as the werewolves quickly will grown in number, it may be wise to skip an early fellow mason just to attract a later and more powerful one as soon as possible.
Troops and Combat
The more you equip your units with guns, horses, silver bullets and leather vests the more powerful they will become. Nevertheless, the werewolves will remain being dangerous opponents. Cavalry may be used to wear down the foes, as all mounted units have a chance to retreat from lost fights.
The werewolves are living in the lost cities of an extinct indian nation. To successfully seize them, artillery may be of use. Mountains are impassable and it may be helpful to make strategical use of mountain ranges.
Victory
The goal of the game is cultivating the hinterland and thus, to exile the werewolves. To achieve this goal you have to extend your cultural area up to a certain percentage of all terrain fields and additionally, to have much more units in comparison to the werewolves. The current state will be displayed in the screen "Victory Conditions" (F8).