Lesson first. Never, but never use any of presented tactics exactly as they are. Flexibility and logical thinking are basement of every good strategy. Try mixing some methods and using your own ones to be one step ahead of your enemy. In some rare cases, if you totally don't know what to do, let it be. Your enemy will have even harder time guessing your next move.
First of all you should understand game rules. The most important ones are: start type, troops distribution and game type. I assume that you know all of them well. If you don't please refer to built in game manual.
Conquer
If you're one of the first players to make a move in this mode you've a great advantage. First of all you should look for a good defensive spot. Area should be small enough to deny any other player from starting there, allow you to conquer it fast and supply you with as little borders as possible. On random XXL size map you would ideally want to start at area with 7-13 regions with one or two choke points leading out. Depending on map hoverer, good spots can contain from 3 to 30 regions.
And what if you were one of last players and all good spots all already taken? Or there were none at all!?
In first case you've got two options. Try to kick someone out of his place (we will talk about it later) or start somewhere in less advantageous position same if there were no good spots. I prefer first solution. Why? In the middle its just matter of time until you'll get crushed by 2-3 players at once while starting next to other player will tell you if you have any chance right away!
"Nobody there yet!"
No matter where you've decided to start its very important to choose exact starting region. That, and your few next moves, depend mostly on distribution type. You should always consider to take region with as many adjacent regions as possible. I call them "area of control". Most players are not suicidal enough to start right in your area of control due to chance that they will be defeated in your first move. Never, but never ever start at the damn end of the area. Why? Someone can just take region in the middle as you should do thus cutting you to maximum of 2-3 regions while he takes the rest. Why not to start at the choke point instead? Cause of the same reason. One of your enemies can take the middle point and this time kick you out of the area. That would be equal to starting in the middle of the map. You must be sure that if someone decides to start next to you will be in very disadvantageous position. Also if you play on random units placement you should look out for regions with less than 3 connections. In next moves your troops can get stuck in the middle of your area thus slowing your expansion!
Your moves in next 3 turns should be dependant on unit distribution type.
- Manual: Try to take choke before others do. Place your units in the direction of choke point but leave them way back. If you see that nobody is yet interested in your choke then use your units to go around to your back and take as much land as possible. Put next wave units on front again.
- Random: Try to increase your area of control as much as possible and not leave any region without a border. This way you will be able to use any unit for expansion - no matter where it is placed. Avoid enclosing your own areas right at the beginning.
- Borders: In contrast to random try to reduce your borders and close all gaps asap. Don't let it happen to have 1 gap with few of your areas adjacent. This way you may end up with many units in the middle of your area while only one could take new land.
"I'll kick you out!"
So you've decided to kick player X cause he has the best possible area. That might work. But thats not the most important point you should look at. First of all you should look for every players mistakes while selecting their first region. You should know those mistakes from the previous paragraph. Try to use it against them. This way you can increase your chance greatly. What if you can't see any mistake? You can trust your luck and start in enemies area of control to deal with him fast, or choose region with bigger area of controll somewhere close to him. Next moves (and luck ofc) will decide who wins this battle!
How should you play your first turns? That depends on your enemy. Remember that he moves first.
- With manual unit placement always keep your highest number of units at front and when its your turn to use them - go around your territories to expand in the opposite direction from your enemy. Try to force him to have 2 or more borders while you can keep all your units in a single region. 5 and 8 are magical numbers. At the end of turn 3 you should have 5 units aiming at opponent, at the end of 4th - 8 units. That's perfect moment for a strike. I prefer to attack with 5 since enemy can do something unexpected later. Try to avoid colliding your 5 with his. You should rather go around and cut him and take as much of his land as you can. This way you will reduce his strength and force him to fight back. Do not bother with your own land. If its Attrition place most units on his way to connecting. Put the pressure! This way he will loose most of his units trying to connect (he may even fail!) or wont connect attacking you. Try to put your units in place where you have at least 2 ways back in case of that. He won't be able to wall you off totally.
- While using borders distribution tactic can be similar but with one exception of later unit placement. You wont be able to secure the cutting but it still might give you a good chance of wining! If its HC the key to wining if forcing opponent to have more borders than you do. If you will be lucky you will be able to "eat" all his borders at once with your higher numbers, thus leaving him without any possibility of expansion or defence.
- With random placement its harder. Its all about luck. Try to expand as much as you can and in fist turns attack whenever you have equal count of armies or greater. This way you might stop his expansion. But look out! Try not to come close to his higher troops. While they're in the middle of his territory they are meaningless, but if you win region next to them you might be in trouble! Be sure to secure more regions than he have and then just sit tight reinforcing your areas.
Coming soon:
- Beginning at full map
- Attrition strategies
- HC strategies
- Why never to use 1v1
- Explanatory screenshoots!
If you see any problems with my tutorials, please post it here asap!
