Post by pip on Jul 22, 2021 19:44:54 GMT
The Honour of the Yorkshire Light Artillery
by Gerald Lientz
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Do not read further if you don't want this gamebook to be spoiled for you.
This is a really fun book (possibly my favourite), with lots of important decisions to be made by the player, different possible conclusions and an unusual twist for the series: instead of investigating a crime that already took place, you are hired to prevent it from happening, and the attempts will take place during the story. There are also not one, but two distinct crimes you may have to solve during this adventure: a theft, which you are hired to prevent, and an unexpected attempted murder.
For the purpose of this walkthrough, I will consider the game is lost if you are offered to try again, even though the book acknowledges partial successes and also allows you to just give up and read the solution. Even then, this particular entry in the series is very generous when it comes to telling you you've won, and the weaker endings have a strong "Meh, you didn't do great, you've missed a lot of clues and you're not a real detective yet, but you did ok, I guess" vibe. I choose to also consider these to be a failure, even though you could technically feel you've won if you're easily satisfied.
I will outline three main different solutions here:
Solution 1
Solving the attempted murder right away (the story will conclude and the theft will not take place). When it comes to dice rolls, this first solution is the easiest one. I recommend lowering your Athletics and Artifice skills to boost Observation and Scholarship.
Solution 2
Not solving the attempted murder right away, the theft will take place and in the end you will have to solve both crimes. This second solution is harder, but I find it to be the most enjoyable one, as it allows you to investigate more and gives you the satisfaction of solving the two crimes. I recommend lowering your Athletics, Artifice and Communication skills to boost Observation (Observation is so important for this solution that I would boost it twice), then Intuition and/or Scholarship.
Solution 3
Seizing the person who will attempt murder before he can act (the story will also conclude there, as in solution 1). This solution is probably the hardest, as it will give you only one chance of passing a bunch of difficult tests in succession. Storywise, I find it to be the least interesting one. I recommend lowering your Communication skill to boost Scholarship.
Walkthrough
Keep in mind that when I tell you not to bother doing so or so, it’s because, as long as you are using this walkthrough, it has no use when it comes to getting a good ending. Of course, taking these optional paths might still provide useful clues when it comes to solving the case in your head, or if you’re not strictly following the walkthrough. We’re just focusing on the easiest way to solve the case gamebook-wise here.
Before you begin your adventure, you get to choose between three different items to add to your equipment (another fun novelty from this entry): a magnifying glass, a lockpick, or a cane. All of them can be used to make certain tests easier, but the tests that matter involve the magnifying glass, so choose that.
Chapter 1: Introduction (start: Prologue)
[all solutions]
What you do in the first sections doesn’t matter. Once you arrive at Eagle Towers, you don’t need to talk to anyone yet, just continue until Colonel Dunlop offers you to show you around.
Chapter 2: Visiting Eagle Towers (start: 128)
[foreword - all solutions]
To be safe, do not to talk to Leaf during this sequence, as if you do, you may take a conversation path that makes you lose the option to talk to him again the next day, making you miss a very important clue.
[solution 2]
You will have to pass an Observation 8+ test to notice a secret door and check Clue B. If you fail, you will get another chance as, when you get to the other room the secret door leads to, you will get to take another Observation 8+ test to notice the door on the other side. If you make it, and if you don’t have Clue B yet, ask where the door leads to for your last chance to check Clue B.
After that, you will notice the dumbwaiter and automatically check Clue C.
After that, do whatever you want until bedtime (remember not to talk to Leaf).
[solution 1 or 3]
Do whatever you want until bedtime (remember not to talk to Leaf).
Chapter 3: First night (start: 338)
[solution 2]
If you don’t have Clue B, you won’t be able to learn anything so you can just go to sleep.
If you do have Clue B, investigate the library. There’s nothing to be gained from picking the lock, so don’t do it. In the next room you visit, there’s also nothing to be gained from picking the padlock (and if you enter, you may even get hurt and miss the next sequence), so don’t do it either. Since you have Clue B, you will now be given the option to investigate the armoury.
Do so and you will meet an intruder. Sneak up on the intruder and, on a successful Artifice 10+ test, you will find Clue G. Whether you’ve managed that or not, afterwards you will get a chance to find Clue H on a successful Observation 8+ test (with a +3 bonus because you have the magnifying glass).
[solution 1 or 3]
You can just go to sleep.
Chapter 4: Second day (start: 187)
[solution 2]
You may learn Clue I during the little throwing/shooting contest. The first Athletics test doesn’t matter. If you pass the second one, an Athletics 8+ test, you will then have to pass a third and more difficult Athletics 10+ test for the chance to check Clue I. If you failed the second test, you instead have to take an Observation 8+ test for another chance to check Clue I. Note that, if you didn’t get Clue G or Clue H earlier, if you also miss getting Clue I here, solution 2 becomes uncompletable.
[solution 1 or 3]
The throwing/shooting contest doesn’t matter.
[all solutions]
In the evening, you will get to choose between playing pool, going outside, or reading in the library. Choose to play pool. You don’t have Clue D, so you get the option to talk to Leaf. Do so. If you pass an Intuition 8+ test, you will get to ask him what he meant when he mentioned a surprise, netting you Clue L. This very important Clue L is mandatory if you want to complete solution 2 or solution 3. It is not mandatory, but still useful, for solution 1.
After that, do anything you want until bedtime.
Chapter 5: Second night (start: 145)
[all solutions]
You will start by reviewing your clues in your room with Watson. At some point, because you do not have Clue K (the only way to find it would have made you miss the much more important Clue L), you get to take a Scholarship 8+ test for a chance to check Clue N. Just like Clue L, this Clue N is mandatory if you want to complete solution 2 or solution 3.
After that, you will get the option to set up an alarm system to help prevent the theft. This is fun, but useless (and if you make a blunder during the attempt, you may also get a penalty to all your future Communication tests), so don’t do it and just go to sleep.
Chapter 6: Third day (start: 599)
[solution 2]
At the start of the day, on a successful Observation 6+ test followed by a successful Intuition 8+ test, you will check Deduction 12. If you miss this deduction, in order to complete solution 2, having obtained Clue I from earlier becomes mandatory, as well as either Clue G or Clue H (if you did check the deduction, then having either one of these three clues is enough).
[solution 1 or 3]
It doesn’t matter whether you check Deduction 12.
[all solutions]
After this, you will be asked if you want to watch the duel.
[solution 1 or 2]
Choose to watch the duel. Skip to the next chapter.
[solution 3]
Choose to not watch the duel (and stick to that if you are offered to change your mind). Do whatever until you get the chance to follow Grayson. Follow him, and keep following him every time you are asked if you want to continue.
You will have to pass the following tests in succession: Observation 9+, Artifice 9+, Scholarship 10+, Athletics 10+. Any failure here will allow you to continue the game, but you will have failed to complete solution 3, and by not watching the duel you will also be unable to complete solution 1 or 2, therefore your game will already be over even if you don’t know it yet.
Assuming you passed all the tests, seize Grayson and pass a Communication 7+ test for a chance at a slightly more glorious ending (but if you don’t seize him, or fail the test, only some details in the ending will be different). If you have Clue L and Clue N, you will win. Otherwise, it will be a game over, even though the book will acknowledge your partial success.
Chapter 7: The duel (start: 415) [solution 1 or 2 only]
[solution 1 or 2]
You will soon get to choose between watching Foxx, listening to the Mortimer folks, or neither. Choose neither. This is odd, but here you will have to majorly fail an Observation test (by getting 4 or less), and THEN pass an Observation 10+ test in order to find Clue S. I could not check other editions of the book, so I don’t know if it’s a mistake in my version or if it is intended.
When the duel is about to start, you will get to choose what you want to watch more carefully. If you have Clue S, you will get the option to watch the bushes. Do that and you will find Clue T. If you don’t have Clue S, choose to watch Snead and, if you pass an Observation 9+ test, you will find Clue U. Note that if you want to complete solution 2, getting either Clue T or Clue U here is mandatory.
[solution 1]
If you got Clue T, mention the smoke. If you don’t have Clue T, talk to Watson about the wound and say the position of the wound shows it’s a set-up.
If you pass an Observation 10+ test (with a +3 bonus if you have Clue T), an Observation 8+ test, an Observation 9+ test, and a Scholarship 8+ test, you will find Clue X. If you passed all of these tests and have both Clue L and Clue N, you will win. This is the best, but hardest ending to get for solution 1. There are many other ways to complete solution 1 with a good ending though, as explained below.
If you failed at either of the tests, or if you didn’t have all of the required clues, then:
If you have Clue L:
If you have Clue X, you will win right away. If you don’t have Clue X, you will have to tell Holmes what the motive was. Say it was the cancellation of the marriage and you will win.
If you don’t have Clue L:
Choose to visit the town hall. If you pass a Scholarship 8+ test, you will win. If you failed, you will end up questioning the guests as a last resort. Talk to Leaf. If you pass a Communication 7+ test, you will notably get to ask him about the marriage’s consequences. Do so and you will win. If you also failed that Communication test, it’s a game over.
[solution 2]
If you got Clue T, don’t mention the smoke. Talk to Watson about the wound. Say either that the wound was not caused by a duelling pistol, or that Snead’s pistol was not loaded.
Chapter 8: The trophy is stolen (start: 103) [solution 2 only]
Not long after the duel, it will be revealed that the trophy you were supposed to protect has been stolen.
After a few irrelevant tests, you will be examining a ladder. If you pass an Observation 8+ test (with a +2 bonus because you have the magnifying glass), and if you then also pass an Observation 7+ test, you will find Clue AA.
The next test won’t matter. You will then begin examining the furniture, and, on a successful Observation 8+ test followed by a successful Intuition 8+ test, you will check Deduction 19. If, by now, you found neither Clue AA nor Deduction 19, you will be unable to complete this solution.
Soon after that, you will be asked if you have Clue C, which you automatically got earlier. Examine the dumbwaiter and, on a successful Observation 9+ test, you will notice that the ropes have been tied up. Untie them and you will recover the trophy. This is for your personal glory only, as if you don’t recover it yourself, someone else will later on, and this won’t affect your chances of completing this solution.
Soon after that, you will be asked if you have Clue AA. If you do, examine the mud and deduce the thief is Miss Dunlop. You will check Deduction 22 and Deduction 23, and you can skip to the next chapter. If you don’t have Clue AA, you need to investigate some more.
Don’t bother talking to anyone, just go upstairs to search the bedrooms whenever you are offered to do so. Don’t bother searching Snead’s room or Foxx’s room.
Search Miss Dunlop’s room. On a successful Observation 7+ test, you will find Clue EE. Since you didn’t find Clue AA, finding Clue EE is now mandatory to be able to complete this solution. Note that if you have Clue AA and chose not to examine the mud earlier, you get another chance to find incriminating evidence here, but as far as this walkthrough is concerned it doesn’t matter, since in that case you’ll have examined the mud.
Chapter 9: Final meeting with Holmes (start: 403) [solution 2 only]
If you don’t have Deduction 23:
If you didn’t recover the trophy earlier, it will one way or another be recovered now (you will be asked questions and may have to roll dice, but either you or Holmes will recover the trophy anyway).
Say the thief was Miss Dunlop. You will need both Deduction 19 and Clue EE here, or it will be a game over.
After that, say she did it to prevent anyone from leaving Eagle Towers (even though you will be allowed to continue if you get it wrong), and proceed to the next section.
If you have Deduction 23, or if you successfully completed the previous section:
Say the duelling pistol was not loaded. You will need to have either Clue T or Clue U, or it will be a game over.
Say Grayson shot. You will need to have either:
- Deduction 12 and either Clue I, G or H
- Clue I, and either Clue G or H
or it will be a game over.
Finally, you will need to have both Clue L and Clue N and you will win. If you are missing either one of them, it will be a game over.
Note that in my edition of the book, the sections you need to turn to here have clearly been incorrectly swapped here (I have not been able to check other editions, so I don’t know if they also have that mistake). You are told to turn to 301 if you have Clue L and either Clue K or Clue N, and to 299 if you only have Clue L: it should unmistakably be the other way around.
Mandatory tests for the easiest path
While it won't be the best possible ending, you can win using solution 1 if you simply pass either a Scholarship 8+ test or a Communication 7+ test.
by Gerald Lientz
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Do not read further if you don't want this gamebook to be spoiled for you.
This is a really fun book (possibly my favourite), with lots of important decisions to be made by the player, different possible conclusions and an unusual twist for the series: instead of investigating a crime that already took place, you are hired to prevent it from happening, and the attempts will take place during the story. There are also not one, but two distinct crimes you may have to solve during this adventure: a theft, which you are hired to prevent, and an unexpected attempted murder.
For the purpose of this walkthrough, I will consider the game is lost if you are offered to try again, even though the book acknowledges partial successes and also allows you to just give up and read the solution. Even then, this particular entry in the series is very generous when it comes to telling you you've won, and the weaker endings have a strong "Meh, you didn't do great, you've missed a lot of clues and you're not a real detective yet, but you did ok, I guess" vibe. I choose to also consider these to be a failure, even though you could technically feel you've won if you're easily satisfied.
I will outline three main different solutions here:
Solution 1
Solving the attempted murder right away (the story will conclude and the theft will not take place). When it comes to dice rolls, this first solution is the easiest one. I recommend lowering your Athletics and Artifice skills to boost Observation and Scholarship.
Solution 2
Not solving the attempted murder right away, the theft will take place and in the end you will have to solve both crimes. This second solution is harder, but I find it to be the most enjoyable one, as it allows you to investigate more and gives you the satisfaction of solving the two crimes. I recommend lowering your Athletics, Artifice and Communication skills to boost Observation (Observation is so important for this solution that I would boost it twice), then Intuition and/or Scholarship.
Solution 3
Seizing the person who will attempt murder before he can act (the story will also conclude there, as in solution 1). This solution is probably the hardest, as it will give you only one chance of passing a bunch of difficult tests in succession. Storywise, I find it to be the least interesting one. I recommend lowering your Communication skill to boost Scholarship.
Walkthrough
Keep in mind that when I tell you not to bother doing so or so, it’s because, as long as you are using this walkthrough, it has no use when it comes to getting a good ending. Of course, taking these optional paths might still provide useful clues when it comes to solving the case in your head, or if you’re not strictly following the walkthrough. We’re just focusing on the easiest way to solve the case gamebook-wise here.
Before you begin your adventure, you get to choose between three different items to add to your equipment (another fun novelty from this entry): a magnifying glass, a lockpick, or a cane. All of them can be used to make certain tests easier, but the tests that matter involve the magnifying glass, so choose that.
Chapter 1: Introduction (start: Prologue)
[all solutions]
What you do in the first sections doesn’t matter. Once you arrive at Eagle Towers, you don’t need to talk to anyone yet, just continue until Colonel Dunlop offers you to show you around.
Chapter 2: Visiting Eagle Towers (start: 128)
[foreword - all solutions]
To be safe, do not to talk to Leaf during this sequence, as if you do, you may take a conversation path that makes you lose the option to talk to him again the next day, making you miss a very important clue.
[solution 2]
You will have to pass an Observation 8+ test to notice a secret door and check Clue B. If you fail, you will get another chance as, when you get to the other room the secret door leads to, you will get to take another Observation 8+ test to notice the door on the other side. If you make it, and if you don’t have Clue B yet, ask where the door leads to for your last chance to check Clue B.
After that, you will notice the dumbwaiter and automatically check Clue C.
After that, do whatever you want until bedtime (remember not to talk to Leaf).
[solution 1 or 3]
Do whatever you want until bedtime (remember not to talk to Leaf).
Chapter 3: First night (start: 338)
[solution 2]
If you don’t have Clue B, you won’t be able to learn anything so you can just go to sleep.
If you do have Clue B, investigate the library. There’s nothing to be gained from picking the lock, so don’t do it. In the next room you visit, there’s also nothing to be gained from picking the padlock (and if you enter, you may even get hurt and miss the next sequence), so don’t do it either. Since you have Clue B, you will now be given the option to investigate the armoury.
Do so and you will meet an intruder. Sneak up on the intruder and, on a successful Artifice 10+ test, you will find Clue G. Whether you’ve managed that or not, afterwards you will get a chance to find Clue H on a successful Observation 8+ test (with a +3 bonus because you have the magnifying glass).
[solution 1 or 3]
You can just go to sleep.
Chapter 4: Second day (start: 187)
[solution 2]
You may learn Clue I during the little throwing/shooting contest. The first Athletics test doesn’t matter. If you pass the second one, an Athletics 8+ test, you will then have to pass a third and more difficult Athletics 10+ test for the chance to check Clue I. If you failed the second test, you instead have to take an Observation 8+ test for another chance to check Clue I. Note that, if you didn’t get Clue G or Clue H earlier, if you also miss getting Clue I here, solution 2 becomes uncompletable.
[solution 1 or 3]
The throwing/shooting contest doesn’t matter.
[all solutions]
In the evening, you will get to choose between playing pool, going outside, or reading in the library. Choose to play pool. You don’t have Clue D, so you get the option to talk to Leaf. Do so. If you pass an Intuition 8+ test, you will get to ask him what he meant when he mentioned a surprise, netting you Clue L. This very important Clue L is mandatory if you want to complete solution 2 or solution 3. It is not mandatory, but still useful, for solution 1.
After that, do anything you want until bedtime.
Chapter 5: Second night (start: 145)
[all solutions]
You will start by reviewing your clues in your room with Watson. At some point, because you do not have Clue K (the only way to find it would have made you miss the much more important Clue L), you get to take a Scholarship 8+ test for a chance to check Clue N. Just like Clue L, this Clue N is mandatory if you want to complete solution 2 or solution 3.
After that, you will get the option to set up an alarm system to help prevent the theft. This is fun, but useless (and if you make a blunder during the attempt, you may also get a penalty to all your future Communication tests), so don’t do it and just go to sleep.
Chapter 6: Third day (start: 599)
[solution 2]
At the start of the day, on a successful Observation 6+ test followed by a successful Intuition 8+ test, you will check Deduction 12. If you miss this deduction, in order to complete solution 2, having obtained Clue I from earlier becomes mandatory, as well as either Clue G or Clue H (if you did check the deduction, then having either one of these three clues is enough).
[solution 1 or 3]
It doesn’t matter whether you check Deduction 12.
[all solutions]
After this, you will be asked if you want to watch the duel.
[solution 1 or 2]
Choose to watch the duel. Skip to the next chapter.
[solution 3]
Choose to not watch the duel (and stick to that if you are offered to change your mind). Do whatever until you get the chance to follow Grayson. Follow him, and keep following him every time you are asked if you want to continue.
You will have to pass the following tests in succession: Observation 9+, Artifice 9+, Scholarship 10+, Athletics 10+. Any failure here will allow you to continue the game, but you will have failed to complete solution 3, and by not watching the duel you will also be unable to complete solution 1 or 2, therefore your game will already be over even if you don’t know it yet.
Assuming you passed all the tests, seize Grayson and pass a Communication 7+ test for a chance at a slightly more glorious ending (but if you don’t seize him, or fail the test, only some details in the ending will be different). If you have Clue L and Clue N, you will win. Otherwise, it will be a game over, even though the book will acknowledge your partial success.
Chapter 7: The duel (start: 415) [solution 1 or 2 only]
[solution 1 or 2]
You will soon get to choose between watching Foxx, listening to the Mortimer folks, or neither. Choose neither. This is odd, but here you will have to majorly fail an Observation test (by getting 4 or less), and THEN pass an Observation 10+ test in order to find Clue S. I could not check other editions of the book, so I don’t know if it’s a mistake in my version or if it is intended.
When the duel is about to start, you will get to choose what you want to watch more carefully. If you have Clue S, you will get the option to watch the bushes. Do that and you will find Clue T. If you don’t have Clue S, choose to watch Snead and, if you pass an Observation 9+ test, you will find Clue U. Note that if you want to complete solution 2, getting either Clue T or Clue U here is mandatory.
[solution 1]
If you got Clue T, mention the smoke. If you don’t have Clue T, talk to Watson about the wound and say the position of the wound shows it’s a set-up.
If you pass an Observation 10+ test (with a +3 bonus if you have Clue T), an Observation 8+ test, an Observation 9+ test, and a Scholarship 8+ test, you will find Clue X. If you passed all of these tests and have both Clue L and Clue N, you will win. This is the best, but hardest ending to get for solution 1. There are many other ways to complete solution 1 with a good ending though, as explained below.
If you failed at either of the tests, or if you didn’t have all of the required clues, then:
If you have Clue L:
If you have Clue X, you will win right away. If you don’t have Clue X, you will have to tell Holmes what the motive was. Say it was the cancellation of the marriage and you will win.
If you don’t have Clue L:
Choose to visit the town hall. If you pass a Scholarship 8+ test, you will win. If you failed, you will end up questioning the guests as a last resort. Talk to Leaf. If you pass a Communication 7+ test, you will notably get to ask him about the marriage’s consequences. Do so and you will win. If you also failed that Communication test, it’s a game over.
[solution 2]
If you got Clue T, don’t mention the smoke. Talk to Watson about the wound. Say either that the wound was not caused by a duelling pistol, or that Snead’s pistol was not loaded.
Chapter 8: The trophy is stolen (start: 103) [solution 2 only]
Not long after the duel, it will be revealed that the trophy you were supposed to protect has been stolen.
After a few irrelevant tests, you will be examining a ladder. If you pass an Observation 8+ test (with a +2 bonus because you have the magnifying glass), and if you then also pass an Observation 7+ test, you will find Clue AA.
The next test won’t matter. You will then begin examining the furniture, and, on a successful Observation 8+ test followed by a successful Intuition 8+ test, you will check Deduction 19. If, by now, you found neither Clue AA nor Deduction 19, you will be unable to complete this solution.
Soon after that, you will be asked if you have Clue C, which you automatically got earlier. Examine the dumbwaiter and, on a successful Observation 9+ test, you will notice that the ropes have been tied up. Untie them and you will recover the trophy. This is for your personal glory only, as if you don’t recover it yourself, someone else will later on, and this won’t affect your chances of completing this solution.
Soon after that, you will be asked if you have Clue AA. If you do, examine the mud and deduce the thief is Miss Dunlop. You will check Deduction 22 and Deduction 23, and you can skip to the next chapter. If you don’t have Clue AA, you need to investigate some more.
Don’t bother talking to anyone, just go upstairs to search the bedrooms whenever you are offered to do so. Don’t bother searching Snead’s room or Foxx’s room.
Search Miss Dunlop’s room. On a successful Observation 7+ test, you will find Clue EE. Since you didn’t find Clue AA, finding Clue EE is now mandatory to be able to complete this solution. Note that if you have Clue AA and chose not to examine the mud earlier, you get another chance to find incriminating evidence here, but as far as this walkthrough is concerned it doesn’t matter, since in that case you’ll have examined the mud.
Chapter 9: Final meeting with Holmes (start: 403) [solution 2 only]
If you don’t have Deduction 23:
If you didn’t recover the trophy earlier, it will one way or another be recovered now (you will be asked questions and may have to roll dice, but either you or Holmes will recover the trophy anyway).
Say the thief was Miss Dunlop. You will need both Deduction 19 and Clue EE here, or it will be a game over.
After that, say she did it to prevent anyone from leaving Eagle Towers (even though you will be allowed to continue if you get it wrong), and proceed to the next section.
If you have Deduction 23, or if you successfully completed the previous section:
Say the duelling pistol was not loaded. You will need to have either Clue T or Clue U, or it will be a game over.
Say Grayson shot. You will need to have either:
- Deduction 12 and either Clue I, G or H
- Clue I, and either Clue G or H
or it will be a game over.
Finally, you will need to have both Clue L and Clue N and you will win. If you are missing either one of them, it will be a game over.
Note that in my edition of the book, the sections you need to turn to here have clearly been incorrectly swapped here (I have not been able to check other editions, so I don’t know if they also have that mistake). You are told to turn to 301 if you have Clue L and either Clue K or Clue N, and to 299 if you only have Clue L: it should unmistakably be the other way around.
Mandatory tests for the easiest path
While it won't be the best possible ending, you can win using solution 1 if you simply pass either a Scholarship 8+ test or a Communication 7+ test.