Battle – HoMM: Olden Era Begginer’s Guide #7

Author: Liso1 April 22, 2026 0 Comments

Battles in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era take place on separate battlefields, divided into hexes. Creatures move across these hexes and engage in combat with the enemy. Battles proceed in rounds. Once all stacks, both yours and the enemy’s, have taken their turn, the next round begins.

Initiative

The sequence of turns is determined by a Creature’s Initiative. The higher the Initiative value, the earlier their stack will act in each round. You can always check the turn order by looking at the Initiative Bar at the top of the screen.

Tactical phase

Before the battle begins, the Tactical Phase is activated, during which you can adjust the placement of your troops. To do this, drag any friendly stack within the highlighted area. If you drag a stack onto a hex occupied by another stack, they will swap places.

Types of attacks

The goal of battles is to defeat every enemy stack in the army. To achieve this, your Creatures must attack the enemy’s troops. The game features Creatures with three types of attacks:

Melee – The Creature deals damage only when it is adjacent to the target.
Long-Reach – The Creature can attack a target one hex away from the target.
Ranged – The Creature can attack from any distance, unless there is an enemy adjacent to it. However, the Damage decreases the further away the target.

NOTE: Right-click on any enemy stack to see their stats. This can help you determine if certain attack types are more powerful, if spells will be effective, or to see what attacks and buffs they have against your own Creatures.

Battlefield movement

If a stack can’t attack during its turn, it can move closer to the enemy. The maximum movement distance depends on the Creature’s Speed.

A Creature making a Melee or Long Reach attack can both approach and attack in the same turn. Move the mouse around the target hex to select which hex your creature will attack from, noting that certain hexes will result in more Damage to the enemy.

Ranged attacks do not include an approach phase, so Ranged Creatures must choose between moving or attacking.
NOTE: Any action – an attack, ability, or a move – ends the Creature’s turn, unless otherwise stated.

When your Creatures attack an enemy in melee combat, they may receive a counterattack in response. The number of counterattacks is limited – usually, Creatures can only counterattack once per round.

Wait or Skip

In certain situations, if you don’t want a stack to attack or move, you can use additional tactical options:

Wait – The stack delays its action until the end of the current round, allowing others to act first. This option can only be used once per round per stack.
Skip Turn – The stack forfeits its action for the round and won’t be able to act again until the next one.

Manage your troops wisely by planning their positions on the battlefield, and choose the optimal moment to strike, to minimize losses from enemy counterattacks.

Focus

Focus is a special resource to activate Creature and Hero Abilities. To use an Ability, the army spends Focus Charges. 1 Focus Charge = 6 Focus Points.
The army generates Focus Points when its Creatures attack or take damage:

All Creatures generate 1 Focus Point upon attacking, except for Melee Creatures, which generate 2 Points.
All Creatures generate 1 Focus Point from taking damage.

Combat spells

During your Creature’s turn, your Hero can use their Spellbook to cast any Combat Spell that they have learned. Casting Spells costs Mana, which does not automatically restore between battles, so it’s important to plan its usage carefully.

After you cast a Spell in combat, it will become unavailable for several rounds. The higher its Tier, the longer its cooldown.

Creature banks

In addition to the usual battles on the Global Map, you may come across special guarded objects. Battles with these guards differ from standard battles due to the unique placement of both your and your enemy’s troops.

In these encounters, your forces may be surrounded by the enemy, or, in some cases, you may have the advantage of surrounding the enemy yourself.

Victory in battles will reward you with the valuable prize that was being guarded by the Creatures you just defeated!

Siege

City Siege is a special type of battle that is triggered when a Hero attempts to capture a City that is defended by at least one Creature. This type of battle differs from regular combat due to the larger battlefield and the presence of defensive structures on the defender’s side, especially if the defender has developed the City and built walls.

As an attacker, your goal is to destroy the defensive walls to reach the enemy Creatures. A catapult can be used to destroy defensive structures.

As a defender, your task is to repel the enemy’s attack, either by forcing them to flee or by defeating them. Any defensive structures that you’ve built in that city, such as walls, towers, moats, and more, will aid you in your defense by directly altering the battlefield.