... In a land far, far away, two commander of questionable skill decided to bring their talents into play in a region known as Gobhrum.

Known for using lame techniques uncharacteristic of Gosu SS players was !Moag$~Rul!. He replaced his unsuccessful use of unsupported Moags early in his career with finely honed use of supporting units in yet still unsuccessful ventures. A zealous devotion to the Dark Elves, although against the spirit of competitive randomness, has earned him a high degree of executeability of the race's potential.

Little more admired in the gaming community is L33T-K1N6. His unparalleled and sometimes fanatic support for chag is widely regarded as being "annoying," "psychopathic," or "goddamn downright stupid." However, in the short amount of time SS has been out he has been able to grasp the essence of unit-classes, and uses unit-class combos surprisingly well.

Unit classes are essential to Strifeshadow and help to balance it. As in most RTS's, there are different units with different abilities different lengths up a different tech tree. Units-classes define these units and help them retain their sovereignty. Classes include ranged units, infantry, short-range artillery, long range artillery, skirmishers, strike troops, and spellcasters. They all fair differently against other classes, which is a key part of balance in Strifeshadow. I will give pertinent examples as the game progresses.

Both entered the land of Gobhrum not for the glorious cause of "upholding justice and good," nor to "keep their evil civilization alive." No, it was for the immensely inspiring reason of "just making some money, no matter what the hell we have to do." Yes, that's right: they had both drawn Dark Elves.

This is a little inside humor. The Dark Elves are the only race the units of which have been disclosed, so it is the only race that I could have had the players play with. Also, the Dark Elves are described as being "amoral" and will do anything to get what they desire. In other words, they are only concerned with the end, not the means.

!Moag$~Rul! ended up at 8:30, with red, while L33T-K1N6 was thrust into position at 5:00 with blue. Both took stock of their surroundings as they issued orders, for they realized terrain was extremely important. For those of you who don't know, in SS the entire map is revealed in the beginning under a "Shroud of War," but reconnaissance of the enemy is not only required, but a large part of being victorious.

Also, terrain is very different in StrifeShadow compared to, say, SC. Terrain can drastically affect vision, and areas such as swamps can slow units down or provide covor for them. Also, multiple elevations exist and height gives a much larger advantage.

They're Off, and Blood is Shed

!Moag$~Rul! scouted counterclockwise, quickly finding his opponent. Deciding on a risky strategy, !Moag$~Rul! expanded quickly to north-east of his position, relying on only a few traps around his base. Traps are build by Kobolds, the "peons," and can have many different functions, including harming units, slowing units down, and taking away the mana of spellcasters. However, all this is assumption. After his expansion began, though, he started to build some token defenses as he powered up to Warlocks.

Warlocks are a spellcaster higher up the tech tree whos spells are mainly those that do large amounts of damage. I'm not sure exactly what the spells do, yet, though. Warlocks can be a very powerful addition, with Shrapnel and especially the Cataclysm ritual. However, their distance up the tech tree leaves one open to a variety of moves, which L33T-K1N6 would be able to exploit if he discovered !Moag$~Rul!'s plan.

Meanwhile, L33T-K1N6, after scouting, decided to tech to Raiders to exploit the weaknesses in his opponent's base.

Raiders are a very unique and useful units. They are a combination of infantry, or Goblin Carvers, mounting a Moor Moag, which is a strike troop. They can combine to form a very mobile unit with a fairly good ranged attack. Also, the Carver can dimount and mount, giving the diversity of a skirmisher (the Raider), infantry (the carver) and strike troops (the Moag). For reference, strike troops are fast, weaker melee units, and infantry are more solid, slower melee units. Raiders can be a good choice, for they can quickly hit a resource line, and their diversity can provide for ample counters to a variety of units. L33T-K1N6 sent out four newly trained Raiders to !Moag$~Rul!'s expansion. A few carvers and marksmen greeted the Raiders, and with the help of a recently created Dame, L33T-K1N6 was forced to retreat.

Quickly, now: The markman is a basic ranged unit. They have crossbows and can shoot at fairly long range inflicting decent damage. They get torn up by infantry, though, as well as numerous other things. The Dame is in the topleft in the gif. She is a spellcaster who is low on the tech-tree. Her spells include agony, which causes units to slow down because of intense pain, blind, which blinds units in a certain area, and rage, which is akin to bloodlust but of a lesser power. She is a very useful unit in the early game, and assists troops well in the later game.

He had, however, set back the resource-collecting of his Dark Elf enemy. L33T-K1N6 realized he was behind because of concentrating on a unsuccessful rush, and realized he needed an expansion. Relying on his Raider technology and speed, he expanded north-east of his town.

Dinner and a Movie

!Moag$~Rul!, realizing that his mobility is down, decides to use the true stealth power of the Dark Elves. Embarking on a dangerous treck, he leads his group of marksmen, carvers, dames, and powerful warlocks up north, around to the back of L33T-K1N6's expansion. Relying on a thin bank of swamp to slow down enemy guerillas, he steadily marches on and sets up stock on a crucial hill overlooking the expansion.

L33T-K1N6's inability to recognize this hill as a valuable defensive position was massive. All terrain in SS plays a huge purpose. Hills provide for attack bonuses as well as sight bonuses.

L33T-K1N6, in a brilliant tactical maneuver, drew the marksmens' and warlocks' focus with a lone Grenadier. His speedy Raiders rushed up the hill, and with a fight managed to secure it. !Moag$~Rul!'s Dame must be given the battle MVP, though, for her amazing use of Rage on her carvers and Agony to slow the Raiders down.

Grenadiers are long-range artillery, and fire fairly quickly for being artillery. They would certainly contstitute a threat to ranged units and warlocks, although a minor one. However, it was used as a diversion: When the troops attacked it, facing towards it, Raiders were able to come in from the sides of the hill and attack. In Strifeshadow flanking attacks give the attacker a definate concrete advantage in combat, by slowing town enemy troops (they take time to face the attackers) and giving the attackers an attack bonus. That's why this attack was very well orchestrated.

!Moag$~Rul! would not let his powering go without helping him, though. Low on units, he had a Cabalist summoned a mighty Djinn, which he flew behind an outcropping near L33T-K1N6's main. He called upon occasional sandstorms to hamper L33T-K1N6's production capabilities and resource gathering.

Djinn's are expensive, airborne units with a light air-to-air attack but a heavily damaging ground attack which