Lost Frontier Chapter 16 (3-Stars)

Lost Frontier is an Advance Wars-like for Android/IOS by Mika Mobile, featuring turn-based strategy combat in a Weird West setting.

This is a max-rank playthrough of the game as John McGraw, the infantry specialist.

McGraw's level for this mission was 23.

This chapter introduces Necromancers. Necromancers are peculiar units. They are ranged units, but can move and shoot on the same turn, with a movement range of 3 and a 2-3 attack range (allowing them to attack a staggering 6 tiles away from their starting position). If a Necromancer kills a human unit, it becomes a Ghoul (or a Ghoul Horde if the target was a Posse). Necromancers are fragile units and take extra damage from Slayers.

Ghouls and Ghoul Hordes have a similar relationship to Gunslingers and Posses: Ghouls have roughly half the defenses and damage of a Ghoul Horde. Like Ghoul Hordes, their damage is not affected by their health, and they move only three spaces per turn.

This is one of the few missions to test the player's strategy more than the player's tactics. It may seem appealing to go after the Necromancers and their ghouls at the beginning of the map, then capture the town. This would allow the enemy forces to capture some of the town's buildings before the player has any income, resulting in a downhill battle after the first few turns.

The better strategy to employ is to take advantage of the Necromancer's low movement speed and go straight to the town, using your Engineers to create a path through the wall. Capture the buildings as quickly as possible. Avoid relying on the choke point to the left side; the enemy Necromancers do heavy damage to your human units if allowed to attack. When the enemy Necromancers approach, fall back until the Necromancers expose themselves.

The Undertaker is extremely fond of Ghoul Hordes and will deploy them in massive numbers for the rest of the campaign. Steam Tanks and Cannons are also fairly common in the enemy army. Gyrocopters cannot be targeted by any of these units, and become a staple unit for the rest of the campaign, especially when the player starts off with Engineers to keep them repaired.