Ambush

[Nobbse]

too simple question?

Sometimes in the wilderness you have the decision not only between (e) vade or (f) ight
but also the possibility to (a) mbush your enemies. The difference between (f) ight and (a) mbush is clear to me - but are there any strategical reasons someone should chose (f) ight instead of (a) mbush if he's given the opportunity?

[JellySlayer]

I think the enemies get a huge energy penalty if you ambush them. Something like you get 5 or 6 free turns before they move.

[Elone]

No, uhh they dont get a penalty. You get a big bonus. You know how you have to accumulate, say, 1000 energy for every turn? You start the ambush off with about 5000 energy accumulated, so you get free turns until you use it up. From there on, energy calculations go as normal.

[Albahan]

I think you both missed the actual question so I'll try to answer it...
The only reason I can think you would choose fight instead of ambush is a combination of:
1) You are sure of you victory
2) You are fighting for experience
3) You want the battle to go quickly, turnwise and irl (because in the case of groups such as jackals or barbarians it will likely go much faster if they are coming at you as you are moving towards them)

[JellySlayer]

To add to Albahan's point above, unless you are using missiles or maybe spells to clear the monsters, most of the time the monsters start too far away for the ambush bonus to matter.

[Elone]

Yup! Yes I cheated for the 10 character lower limit.