Act I has 11 Turns.
No matter which of the randomized paths the player chooses, there is always a limited amount of options the player can encounter at a certain turn number:


There are two different army pools for the regular battles up to the first armory: one for the regular encounters in turn 1 -3 (which I covered in an earlier guide) and another one for the regular encounters in the second part of the act.
During turn 5,6,7,8 and 10, the player can encounter 5 different armies:
Mining Crew
Elf Patrol
Orc Raiders
Bandit Gang and
Goblin Waparty
Each army can come up more than once in a campaign, but not in subsequent turns.

The players' army will usually have the 3-5 starting units plus one or two additional units they may have acquired at the first armory or at a random event.
The starting units will usually have gotten their first level up and might get another one during that phase.
This means the player’s army will usually have 4 to 7 units with the equivalent of 350 to 500 points in custom battles (assuming that the level-ups which have an impact on battles are factored in with a point value of round about 25 points each).
The opposing armies in regular battles in this phase have 3 or 5 units with the equivalent of 300 to 500 points.


The Mining Crew and the Elf Patrol are on the lower end of that spectrum. Bandit Gang and Orc Raiders are relativly large armies for this phase.


Each army has different strengths and weaknesses, which make them more or less convenient opponents depending on the composition of the players army.

The Mining Crew is one oft he two smallest engagements in this phase with 3 units and an equivalent of 314 to 326 points in a custom battle.
It potentially features units from two different faction quite early in the game.


Tactics and Tipps:
Break the confidence:
Dwarf Armies typically feature a mix of powerful ranged attacks and slow, but exeptionally tough infantry which is difficult to rout.
All three units of the army have a form of ranged attack. These attacks can deal a significant ammount of chip damage.
A fast attack unit that can neutralize the Imperial Archers/Dwarf Crossbows quickly is very useful.
The players army should have more than three units at this point, so outmaneuvering the Miners at the end of the strategic phase and multicharges should be possible. The combination of decent defence, high power and discipline makes it difficult to reliably rout the Miners -even by rear charges and even by a strong unit.
12 Models i.e. a whole unit can be ignored completly. Since the army has 36 Wounds in total, the confidence bar should be at 50% and turn yellow once 18 models are removed. The army will loose another 10 percentage points extra at the end of that turn. Once the army looses 6 more models, the confidence bar will drop to 25% and turn red. The army will then loose 10 percentage points at the end of each turn until it looses.

The Elf Patrol is the other one of the two small engagements in this phase with 3 units and an equivalent of 313 points in a custom battle.
All three units are fast attack units.
The core of the army is a large unit of Lancers, which make up more than half oft he armies wounds, points and damage potential. The average charge damage of that unit is surpassed only by two other units in Act I, which are part of Elite/Boss encounters.


Tactics and Tipps:
Avoid a charge of the Lancers:
Elf Conclave Armies usually feature a mix of elite infantry, ranged Support and Fast Attack.
The Elf Patrol is an exception to that rule: a small, very focussed army that relies almost entirely on charges, especially those of the Lancers to deal damage. All three units are usually in the players face in turn 2 simultanously, which makes it difficult to multicharge the Lancers.
The best bet is often to exploit the fact that the army has only three units and outmaneuver them in the strategic phase.
The units are often deployed in close proximity to each other. Deploying with a „denied flank“ to separate the units will often not seperate the Elf Patrol, but will still have the benefit for the players army to not be separated itself. Setting the Lancers up for a counter charge with a feint retreat by a bait unit can be difficult and risky due to the two assisting support units, which might intercept the units which are supposed to conduct the countercharge.
The Reivers can deal some damage as well, but are far less dangerous. Their few wounds and lack of shields make them vulnerbale. They tend to win combats by a lower margin and are less likely to get a second charge bonus vs a weak unit that ran away from the intial charge.

The Orc Raiders have four units, two of which can have a lot of variety. Depending on how the two variable elements of the army are fleshed out, it can have the equivalent of 320 to 450 points in custom battles.
Tactics and Tipps:

Divide your opponent:
Orc based Greenskin armies often have a mix of units with different speed, which makes it easy to divide their armies and isolate single units. Their discipline is only slightly higher than those of Goblins, but their higher defence and power makes it more difficult to win a combat decisivly enough to rout a unit. Losses from ranged attacks are more detrimental to Orcs because of their smaller model count.
Outmaneuvering these units for charges into their flank or rear is even more rewarding.

The Orc Raiders can be an exception to that general rule in the sense that there is a small chance they are an all infantry army. In that case, individual units should still be isolated by kiting for simultanious charges of several units if you want to minimize the risk of frontal brawls.
Bringing the confidence bar below 25% will often be difficult. Even when the fast attack elements and the smaller unit of orc warriors is neutralized, the larger unit of orcs still has enough wounds to keep the confidence above 25% as long as it hasn‘t lost any models.

20 Orc Warriors (Slot 1):

10 Orc Warriors (Slot 2):
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6 Boar Riders, 12 Brutes or a Boar Chariot (Slot 3 and 4):

The Bandit Gang is the largest of the regular encounters of Act I in terms of points. It has 4 activations and is the equivalent of 431 to 497 points in custom battles. The Elite battles of that phase are more or less in the exact same range. Especially the elite army „Von Platen“ is not only almost exactly the same size, but also very comparable in terms of units and capabilities.
The bulk of the Bandit Gang are two large infantry units which are supported by a small unit of skirmish cavalry and a fourth element which can be either a unit of Handgunners or a unit of Knights.
Tactics and Tipps:

Human armies often feature a combined arms approach around a large corps of melee infantry units.
The Bandid Gang is another army that can be divided by the different pace of the units. The different unit options can give the army a either a rather defensive or offensive character.
The two infantry units should be dealt with last by isolating them and charging them with multiple units simultanously. One of them can usually be ignored entirely or at least partially. The confidence will drop below 25% and will run out on its own within two or three turns once there is only one of them left if both have the same unit type. If the two infantry units are one Spear and one Foot Knight unit, you need to remove the larger Spear unit or deal some ranged damage in order to make the time run against the computer.
15 Foot Knights or 24 Imperial Spears (Unit Slot 1 and 2):
5 Light Cavalry (Slot 3)
12 Imperial Handguns or 6 Imperial Knights (Slot 4)

The Goblin Warparty has 5 units and is the equivalent of 354-444 points.
The core is always a large Goblin Mob and a unit of Trolls. They are supported by three variable units, which can either be small units of Wolf Riders or Goblin Shortbows. Up to 3 times 15 ranged attacks is potentially the largest for ranged support element at this point oft he campaign.


Rout your opponent:
Goblin-focussed Greenskin armies often have a lot of models and wounds, which makes skirmishing less efficient than against other armies. Their low discipline in combination with medium defence and damage output makes it easier to win a combat and make a unit of goblins run though.
The Goblin Warparty is the another goblin army which can vary in its abilites. Three of the five unit slots can feature either fast attack or large ranged support units. That can make the army offensive, defensive or an allrounder. The deployment should take all options into account.
Both the Trolls and Wolfriders are vulnerable to ranged attacks in the sense that they quickly loose damage output with any lost model; the regeneration of the Trolls makes them a very inconvenient target to shoot at when you are not absolutly sure to remove entire models in that turn.

24 Goblins (Slot 1)
5 Wolfriders or 15 Goblin Shortbows (Slot 3,4 and 5)