Battle for Wesnoth
Overview
 
The Battle for Wesnoth, or simply Wesnoth, is a turn-based strategy
Turn-based strategy
A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing...

 game with a fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 setting, designed by David White and first released in June 2003. In Wesnoth, the player attempts to build a powerful army by controlling villages and defeating enemies for experience
Experience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...

. White based Wesnoth loosely on the Sega Genesis games Master of Monsters
Master of Monsters
Master of Monsters is a turn-based strategy game created by Japanese software developer System Soft for the MSX and NEC PC8801 later ported to a variety of consoles and PCs including the PC Engine, NEC PC9801, Sega Mega Drive , Sega Saturn and PlayStation...

and Warsong. He wanted to create a freely-available, open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

 strategy game with very simple rules, but one that had strong artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...

 and that was challenging and fun.

The Battle for Wesnoth is available under the GPL license in source form and for a variety of computer operating systems.
The Battle for Wesnoth is a turn-based
Turn-based strategy
A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing...

 wargame
Wargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...

 played on a hex map
Hex map
A hex map, hex board or hex grid is a gameboard design commonly used in wargames of all scales. The map is subdivided into small regular hexagons of identical size.-Advantages and disadvantages:...

.
Quotations

You can use units from a previous scenario by selecting 'Recall' in the game menu. By recalling the same units over and over, you can build up a powerful and experienced army.

In most campaigns you will receive a gold bonus for finishing early, depending on the number of villages on the map, and the number of turns you finish early. You will always earn more gold this way than through capturing villages and waiting for turns to run out.

Units are healed when they advance a level. Used wisely, this can turn a fight.

Use healers to support your attacks - they will win you battles without needing to attack anything themselves.

Use lines of units to screen injured units and let them recover.

Read the hotkeys list in the preferences menu.

That was explained well! But... -- Konrad, at the menu allowing Konrad to ask Delfador more questions

What do I do next? -- Konrad, when finished with Delfador's explanations

 
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