The Ranger is the best man to have as your leader because the characters he comes with, (mage, priest, warrior and two rangers) give you the chance to build up your mage from the very start, and letting you get to those mega powerful spells like Pyro and Disintegrate really quickly, thus being able to do much more damage in battle, and from a distance where you can't be hurt.
Also, decommision all your troops at the very start and reinforce your bowmen, as these are by far the best men to have as they can attack armies without having to engage with them, and save a lode those precious hit. Infintry and mounted cavalry are not a very advisable because they always take a lot of damage and take too long to get to the higher levels.
If you really want to have a few armies with melee weapons then go the whole hog and get some cavalry. These blokes can take a hell of a lot of stick and still come out almost undamaged; at higher levels they can totally decimate the enemy.
Remember to keep an eye on how your cities are doing, but don't spend too much on developement. The best thing to do is save the same before you go to the next month. That way if anything nasty happens you can reload it and try again, thus avoiding the situation. Not all the cities have to be taken by force, and if you can get one to become your vassel it guarantees you a profit each month from that city.
Muscle isn't the only thing you're going to have to use. If you want your people to stay loyal you'll have to make the right decisions. The man Olaf who's up for murder is innocent and should be pardoned. When the Elven diplomat arrives and asks you to stop developing the lumber do as he wishes and become allied with the elves. Pay ransoms or the people's morale will go down.
Trolls will sometimes demand money from Sur Nova, but if you take your forces to the Troll's village and capture it, you shouldn't have any more problems. The Nomads don't give you many problems if they become your enemy, but become their ally anyhow just to be on the safe side.
There are a quite a few unknown cities in the unexplored lands of Aladda, some of them friendly, most of them evil. Below are a small guidelines on what to expect from these mysterious places and their inhabitants.
Depending on how diplomatic you've been this place could be either hostile or friendly. But if you've followed the tips you won't have any problems.
This place is filled with goblin forces plus a few rather nasty looking monsters with magic capabilities, but it's not too hard to beat them. However, remains of the Goblins will come back after and try to win back the city.
XAFANTA: CITY OF THE DWARVESThese chaps are having quite a few problems with the orcs of Zarnix, and they will help you defeat the orcs in the pass just before Zarnix.
This is yet another city full of Elves, however, unlike the first city the Elves aren't so nice and are pretty tough cookies.
This is where those big nasties hang out. Defeating them is quite a problem, but with a few cavalry to aid your bowmen you should be able to capture the city. A good reason for taking this city is that the giants have control of a lake near to Tentula, and once you've got it back the city's income should increase a little.
If you're looking for a tough battle then this is the place to come. There are tons of Troll and you'll need a lot of men to defeat them. You'll also lose a lot of men in the process. This should stop any ran- somed demands from the iliterate Trolls and make life a lot easier.
Dersh is probably the last unknown city you'll come to, and it is by far the hardest. A huge number of men will be needed to take over this city, and nearly all of them will be lost in the battle.