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Geez, I thought I was the only one who loved this game...Guess not! The only game I've played countlessly and it's never the same game twice, I love it.

Just thought I'd give a tip from a "professional" player...yeah right! I have passed the game with every single hero on NES. First off, River Dragon Sucks! The only way to win in the time limit is to flee to 39 and 40 and build from there. Second of all, I've heard no one mention the fact that Faceless in the NES version in preficture #2 is able to be recruited right away while your still in exile! He's by far the best person hands down to recruit and brother, the only thing is though you have to make it to preficture 2 before March of the first year, otherwise he flees to 3, 12, or 1! After you recruit him, rest the entire year in preficture 2 until Feb. of the next year. Then settle in #2 in February, then you can hunt for food in march, sell it in in may, and give to Faceless in June. Follow those three simple suggestions and you'll be off to the best start.

NES version facts:
1. People come and go but only at the change of the seasons. i.e. spring, summer, winter and fall. So don't rush to recruit someone when they first appear, unless you have nothing better to do.
2. The best prefictures to settle in when you begin the game are: 2,13,22,39/40 all of these have the ability to buy arms, ships or both. This is critical in building your armies.
3. Waiting for people to come to you is impossible. After you make your fisrt brother go on a recruiting spree with your main charecter. Travel to all the empty prefictures you can get to and try to recruit some heroes. Just recruit, give to em, and move to the next one. Rumoring in the downtown will point you in the correct path when recruiting. Multiple rumoring will yield different people who want to join you and where they are located.
4. Fighting beast builds your "heart" and gains you popularity in recruiting. Do it as much as possible.

Battle hints:
1. When your being attacked, only place the number of heroes on the field equal to the castles you have. When one goes, just reinforce (in the castle of coarse). This will maximize the damage you do and the minimize your casualties.
2. To weaken Gao Qiu, build an army in a adjacent preficture. Make sure you have 100 training and arms, and then move enough heroes out to make yourself appear weak. i.e. Keep 4-6 heroes in the preficture to defend (5 is usually perfect). If Gao Qiu has superior numbers (not strength) he will threaten and attack. Then wipe the floor with him (using the first hint) and capture all the heroes that you can. I once captured all 10 of his heroes while only losing less than 100 men.
3. Set him up! If you can capture the leader of the battle you capture all of his heroes and men that are still on the battle field. Think of way to lure the captain in and swarm him with all you got...be cautious though. If you don't capture him in one attempt he will flee! This may be done by reinforcing your troops not adjacent to, but within charging distance of the captain. i.e. 1-2 squares away.

Anything else you wanna know I could probably tell you cuz I know the game inside out. Also, saving before a battle is the best way to cheat to victory. If you lose, RESET!!! And try again, or don't repeat the same stupid mistake twice.