You have a starting town and 2-4 colonies. You just summoned or hired a hero or two and trained some Swordsmen to escort them. And the first neutral town you attacked murdered all of them.

The short answer is that the pleasant facade and easy town management hide a deep, complex combat system. The purpose of this guide is to introduce it to you. Take a deep breath and relax. With that, let's get started.

Each unit in Master of Magic can be composed of multiple figures, each of which gets to attack and defend. Normal and Hero units can also have levels. Fantastic (summoned) units don't have levels but get higher base stats or special abilities.

Spearmen units typically have eight figures, and Swordsmen and Bowmen units typically have six figures. An Elite Spearmen unit is much more capable than a Recruit Spearmen unit and will probably kill a Recruit or Regular Swordsmen unit. Neutral town armies can have a lot of time to do nothing but train; this is one reason it's good to capture neutral towns early.

The next part is special abilities. Attacks and counter-attacks occur simultaneously by default. However, First Strike lets you deal damage before the target can retaliate. Thrown attacks happen before melee attacks, including First Strike, and can hit flying enemies. Defenders don't get to make Thrown attacks, and defenders with First Strike don't get to attack first. Halfling units are Lucky and tend to fare better than you'd expect. Illusion units, such as Phantom Warriors, ignore most units' Defence.

A starting Hero generally has enough damage output to be a threat to 1 to 3 figures (not units). Charging a starting Hero into an enemy unit is not recommended. On the other hand, with a few levels and magic items, a Hero starts to shine, and high-level Heroes can take entire towns by themselves. More on that later.

Each unit possesses Hit Points, Attack, Attack Chance, Defence, Defence Chance, Resistance, and Movement. There are a few exceptions, such as Phantom Warriors, who have a Defence of 0.

Each point of attack is a chance to apply a point of damage. The base Attack Chance is 30% and can be modified by special abilities. Having an Attack of 8 and a 40% Attack Chance is roughly the same as having an Attack of 10 and a 30% Attack Chance.

Each type of Attack has an associated icon; modifiers to your Attack Chance apply to all Attack types unless specified otherwise. Swords represent Melee Attacks, and targets pierced by an arrow represent Ranged Attacks; unlike Classic, there is no special icon for Ranged Magic Attacks.

Only Ranged Attacks (not Ranged Magic Attacks) take a range penalty, which applies to their Attack Chance. All Ranged Attacks (Magical or otherwise) have an ammunition count that determines how many ranged attacks they can make per battle - ammunition is refilled automatically after a battle.

Each point of Defence is a chance to negate a point of Damage. The base Defence Chance is 30% and can be modified by special abilities.

Resistance is a chance to be unaffected by certain spells and special attacks, such as debuff and control spells, poison, or other special attacks. Most damage applies against Defence, not Resistance. Base Resistance varies for each race; Halflings units, for example, have some of the highest Base Resistance in the game, while High Men units have some of the lowest.

Movement in the Master of Magic remake has been sped up from the classic game, with most units gaining +1 Movement. Many units in Classic had a Movement of 1 or 2.

All rolls are, as mentioned, made per figure. With no other bonuses, a Recruit High Men Spearmen will roll eight times with an Attack of 1 and an Attack Chance of 30%; most of the figures in the unit won't do any damage. An Elite High Men Spearmen with no other bonuses also gets eight attack rolls, but with an Attack of 3 and an Attack Chance of 40%, most of the figures in the unit will do at least one damage.

Gunther the Barbarian has a base Attack of 5, a base Defence of 3, a Resistance of 60%, and 9 Hit Points. He also has a 3-point Thrown Attack. On average, he'll deal about two and a half damage (before the target's Defence is applied) and block about one point of Damage. At level 3 (Commander level), he has the following:

- An Attack of 11 (a base of 5, +3 from levels, +3 from his Might special ability).
- An Attack Chance of 40% (a base of 30%, +10% from levels).
- A Defence of 5 (a base of 3, +2 from levels).
- A Resistance of 90% (a base of 60%, +30% from levels).
- 12 Hit Points (a base of 9, +3 from levels).
- A 6-point Thrown Attack (a base of 3, +3 from levels) also benefits from his improved Attack Chance.

Gunther's average melee damage is now 4.4, his average thrown attack damage is 2.4, and he'll block about a point and a half of Damage.

Gunther is now dangerous enough to slaughter most Elite Swordsmen one-on-one. If we cast Iron Skin on him, adding +5 Defence, he can kill Elite Gnoll Swordsmen, who have an Attack of 7 and a 40% Attack Chance.

And he's only the second-worst Hero in the game (Classic wiki; Heroes move faster now):

https://masterofmagic.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Heroes

First, let's talk about unit classes. Units can belong to more than one class; for example, the +2 Melee Attack bonus that Gnoll units get mean their Bowmen are good in both the front line and at range. I'll use the informal classes below to describe how these units should be used.

Front-liners units deal out and soak damage in close combat. They typically have high attack, high defence, and good hit points through levels or as base stats, or may have special abilities that make them uniquely suited against the enemy units on the battlefield.

Ranged units deal damage as the enemy closes. Most ranged units are weak in melee and should be in the back lines.

Strikers maneuver to surround the enemy and pick off lone units. Most strikers should attack first, and avoid being attacked or surrounded.

Spellcasters can cast spells, a topic deep enough to require an entire guide as an introduction. In brief, spells include improving your units (buffing), doing the opposite to enemy units (debuffing), healing your units, dealing direct damage to enemy units, summoning temporary reinforcements, altering battlefield terrain, adding or removing movement options (the Flight and Web spells, for example), etc. At this point, the list of Spellcasters includes you and possibly a Hero unit.

Before you build your first army, your capital city should have a Sawmill, Smithy, Stables, Barracks, Armoury, and Fighter's Guild, costing a total of 450 Production. This will provide you with a good selection of starting units (and a production bonus), and the Fighter's Guild will ensure those units are at least Regular (level 1) instead of Recruit (level 0). I'd also recommend a Foresters' Guild and Miners' Guild, but this is a combat guide, not a city-building guide.

A Regular unit gains +1 to Melee, Ranged, Thrown, and Breath attacks (if it has them), +1 Defence, and +1 Resistance.

A single army can have a maximum of 9 units in the overworld. Force composition will vary, but a good starting army is 3 Front-liners, 3 Ranged units, and 3 Strikers, with your Hero substituting for one of the listed units or as a Spellcaster. If your starting race has Shamans, you can build a Shrine for an additional 100 Production to gain access to them. Aside from a Ranged Magic Attack that's about equal to a Bowmen unit, they also heal all units by +25% per overworld (not combat) turn. Although their attack and defence tend to be higher, they have four figures to a Bowmen's six figures.

This section is a list of specific statistics and advice. With that being said;

Suitable early Front-liner Normal units and their base stats (in order of general-to-specific and then alphabetical):

- Halberdiers: Typically 6 Figures, 4 Attack, 3 Defence, 1 Hit Point, and 2 Movement.
- Pikemen (High Men and Nomads, replaces Halberdiers): *8* Figures, 5 Attack, 3 Defence, 1 Hit Point, 2 Movement, Negate First Strike, and Armor Piercing (halves Defence).
- Swordsmen: Typically 6 Figures, 3 Attack, 2 Defence, 1 Hit Point, 2 Movement, and a Large Shield (+2 Defence bonus versus all ranged attacks)
- Javalineers (Lizardmen): 6 Figures, 4 Melee Attack, 3 Ranged Attack (with an ammunition count of 6), 4 Defence, 2 Hit Points, and 2 Movement.

Suitable early Ranged Normal units and their base stats (in order of general-to-specific and then alphabetical):

- Bowmen: Typically 6 Figures, 1 Melee Attack, 2 Ranged Attack (with an ammunition count of 8), 1 Defence, 1 Hit Point, and 2 Movement.
- Shamans: 4 Figures, and typically 2 Melee Attack, 2 Ranged Attack (with an ammunition count of 4), 3 Defence, 1 Hit Point, 2 Movement, Healer, and Purify (a non-combat overworld ability).
- Horsebowmen (Nomads): 4 Figures, 4 Melee Attack, 2 Ranged Attack (with an ammunition count of 8), 2 Defence, 3 Hit Points, and 4 Movement.
- Javalineers (Lizardmen): 6 Figures, 4 Melee Attack, 3 Ranged Attack (with an ammunition count of 6), 4 Defence, 2 Hit Points, and 2 Movement.
- Longbowmen (High Elves): 6 Figures, 1 Melee Attack, 3 Ranged Attack (with an ammunition count of 8), +10% Attack Chance, 2 Defence, 1 Hit Point, 2 Movement, and Forester (forests don't impede movement).

Good early Striker Normal units and their base stats (in order of general-to-specific and then alphabetical):

- Cavalry: Typically 4 Figures, 4 Melee Attack, 2 Defence, 3 Hit Points, 4 Movement, and First Strike.
- Horsebowmen (Nomads): 4 Figures, 4 Melee Attack, 2 Ranged Attack (with an ammunition count of 8), 2 Defence, 3 Hit Points, and 4 Movement.
- Wolf Riders (Gnolls): 4 Figures, 7 Melee Attack, 3 Defence, 5 Hit Points, and 5 Movement.

In addition, some racial units have abilities that place them outside the usual paradigm. In a general order from making the most difference to making the least:

Trolls have Regeneration, and dead Troll units will return to life with full health if they win the battle. In addition, Troll units ignore conventional damage on the overworld map. Finally, all Troll units are quite capable in melee.

All Draconian units fly, allowing you to colonize and attack other continents right from the start of the game. In addition, a single Draconian Bowmen (or other ranged unit) can attack neutral melee-only armies with impunity. If you run out of ammunition, let the battle run to a draw and try again.

All Lizardmen units can swim, allowing you to colonize and attack other continents right from the start of the game.

All Dark Elf units except Nightblades have a Ranged Magic Attack with an ammunition count of 4.

All Barbarian units have a Thrown attack. Thrown attacks happen just before a melee attack, and while they aren't technically ranged attacks, they can be used to attack flying units.

All Halfling units are Lucky, which grants a +10% bonus to Attack Chance, Defence Chance, and Resistance. In addition, some Halfling units have more figures than usual.

Fantastic units have better base stats than comparable Recruit or Regular Normal units but can't gain experience; as such, they make suitable disposable units to shield your Normal units as they gain experience. In-combat summons are some of the most valuable ways to supplement your army because they don't take up valuable space in the overworld. However, a Spellcaster (including you) can only cast one spell per battle turn. Likewise, Fantastic and Normal units are both disposable in favour of the future potential represented by a Hero unit.

Beta reader credits: Slayer of Time.
General credits: Xeth Nyrrow, without whom this guide would be (incorrectly) telling you that attacks happened before counter-attacks, instead of (correctly) telling you that they are simultaneous.