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PART I: The Insider Point of View [page 2 of 4]

Speed Demons

The selected grunt has already been seriously wounded.

During the game, the impression of a unit's speed can be misleading. The numbers shown in the unit window for "speed", on the other hand, accurately reflect how fast the unit is moving. While the beefy ogres are hardly light on their toes, they are the quickest of the WarCraft ground units. Dragons, once in motion, are nearly as fast as zeppelins, except when you want them to change direction. Even so, a dragon can usually catch up with an escaping unit if that unit has not already covered a lot of ground in its retreat.

Note: Except for skeletons and catapults, mages (and Orcish death knights) are outpaced by all other units. When engaging these units in battle, every second counts: Situate them a safe distance from the front line, and order them to run away immediately after casting a spell.

Demolition squads are only marginally faster than grunts and archers, but this slight advantage is usually enough to ensure their escape from these enemies. Because demo squads are not well armored for one-on-one combat, keep them clear of duels.

Table 1. Ground Unit Speed Ranking

rank	unit (Human)	unit (Orcish)	speed
1.	paladin knight	ogre-mage ogre	13 13
2.	dwarven demolition squad	goblin demolition squad	11
3.	footman peasant elven ranger archer	grunt peon troll berserker axe thrower	10 10 10 10
4.	mage	death knight skeleton	8 8
5.	ballista	catapult	5

Civilian oil tankers and weaponless transports cannot defend themselves, but their high speed ranking enables them to outdistance enemy warships in pursuit. Unarmed sea units are generally safe upon reaching their own war party's battleships, or when they return to shipyards protected by towers and/or catapults.

Because they are faster than submarines, destroyers, transports and oil tankers are only slightly vulnerable to attacks by undersea units. This speed advantage makes pursuit by invisible submarines less of a problem. Only the sluggish battleships and ogre juggernauts will require defensive support. The best option here is to use an air unit to identify and destroy submarine attackers.

Table 2. Sea Unit Speed Ranking

rank	unit	speed
1.	destroyer transport oil tanker	10 10 10
2.	submarine (turtle)	7
3.	battleship (ogre juggernaut)	6

Table 3. Air Unit Speed Ranking

rank	unit (Human)	unit (Orcish)	speed
1.	gnomish flying machine	goblin zeppelin	17
2.	gryphon rider	dragon	14*

* But they (purposely) react slowly to all changes of direction

Continues...

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