~ StratO's Truck Stop: Age 74 Virtual Kingdom ~

Hello and welcome to The Virtual Kingdom, age 74.


The PREMIER: Asia
Bocan: rogue ~*Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
Dwarf: war hero ~*Liver & Onions
Elf: mystic ~*Sliced Turkey with Stuffing & Gravy*
Human: sage ~ Manburger & Fries
Orc: tactician ~ Pineapple Turnover

The DELUXE: Eastern Europe
Avian: paladin ~ Smoked Ham with Red-Eye Gravy
Bocan: heretic ~*Jumbo Fried Shrimp
Dark Elf: mystic ~*Pan Fried Catfish
Dryad: warrior ~*French Toast & Canadian Bacon
Orc: undead ~ Our World Famous Cinnamon Roll*

The SPECIAL: Western Europe, HQ
Bocan: rogue ~*Biscuits with Sausage Gravy
Elf: sage ~*Blueberry Pancakes & Maple Syrup*
Faery: paladin ~ *Spam & Slaw Sandwich*
Faery: tactician ~ BLT sandwich & Tatertots*
Human: undead ~ Mr. Bigs Breakfast Burrito *

The CONTINENTAL: America
Avian: undead ~*Corned Beef Hash
Dark Elf: mystic ~*Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes
Dryad: warrior ~*Fried Chicken & Waffles
Dwarf: heretic ~*Steak & Eggs
Orc: paladin ~ Ulster Irish Stew

The PLAZA: Australia
Avian: tactician ~*Arkansas Chop Suey
Dwarf: sage ~ Beanie-Weenies*
Elf: heretic ~ Spaghetti & Meatballs
Faery: rogue ~ Toasted Western
Human: war hero ~ The Big Rig Rueben*

In this version my aim was to cross divisions with elements of the spearhead and assault units. This is due to the decided ops/sabotage resistance we are enjoying this age. So my endeavor for the t/ms sake was to work the ops into the elliptical wave rather than a concentrated force at particular predictable times. Some of these builds are both violent and fragile in the interest of potential impact.

Your comments are welcome, and thank you for your time.

Edit: I'm doing some switching with the Bocan and Dwarves to achieve certain balances. It occurred to me the Bocan war hero may find it hard to find focus other than honor whoring. Your mileage may vary. Switches are Premier Division Dwarf sage to war hero, Special Division Bocan war hero to rogue and Plaza Division Dwarf rogue to sage. The intent was to offer an HQ unit of more telling strength in the support role.

Edit 2: General GMT(continents) was designated for each division to help clarify the synchronicity of the elliptical wave. These aren't confinements but act as a guide to optimum activity focus.

A big thank you to RattleHead for helping me through this TVK.

I'm still browsing his version you'll find in the Strategy Forum.

Looks good. I like the Continental Menu myself!

In general I like seeing the Paladin outside of a 'caster' role, (moreso last Age) it seems relegated to a support TM role, but I think it can be much more diverse than that.

Thank you.

I'd have arranged the menu more sensibly, but work takes me away from my creative time. I also wanted to get The Virtual Kingdom out before another week passed. War and work make these things a little difficult.

I'm running a paladin orc this round. I'm exploring the dimensions, as it appears to be a fairly elastic build. What can't be realized without experience I'll attempt to put together as the age progresses.

With the advent of no stances this age we are now in live situations all age with the exception of eowcf.

Because of the lack of stances my subtractions to the racial medley in The Virtual Kingdom were the Dryad and Dark Elf. This isn't necessarily that I don't see their role, it's more that the role required a deeper core count and the economic strain reduced kingdom flexibility.

The Dryad can excel oow and thus the warrior designation(thx RattleHead) here is to offer as deep a reach into bottom feeding kingdoms as possible. Why is this important? Because the bottom feeding culture is reliable and offers an instant war in some cases. The Dryad warrior is not a deterrent, it's part of the intent to win wars by reducing enemies unbreakable potential.

The Dark Elf economy is the biggest detractor to an otherwise high utility race. The reason I went with mystics for Dark Elf was to keep retooling efforts to a minimum and in war have one of the most devastating assault vehicles in the game.

The Dark Elf and the Dryad both require a significant escort fleet to keep them upright in war. Enemies aren't keen on having the combination of deep offense and obliterating casters rampaging through their ranks. Despite the fact that we're only running 2 of each in The Virtual Kingdom, they aren't part of the same tactical sphere.

The Dark Elf is actually part of the assault/interference that helps to push enemies away from the Dryad. The Dryad is part of the spearhead initiative. The Dryad shares status with the Elf Mystic, Sage and Heretic. There's a rather hazy line between hybrid and t/m this age, so the spearhead seems small yet is fortified with numerous backup scenarios.

This age, creating pure spearhead divisions projected very brittle strats. Without stances this would result in entering wars in marginal shape in many cases. The premise here is to exert compound leverage on bottom feeders. So the spearhead is slight but sure and the massive clutch that supports the spearhead can go into action. So we're looking to crash their strength and push them to isolation. This is a philosophy I've used in province tactics. Like a predatory spider you grab them and drag them away to your lair. It's like cutting off the arm of a power lifter. He's badass but no match for other power lifters minus one arm. It's not the war you lose, it's the wars your enemy can no longer fight.

Reflections on Assualt tactics

If we look at the Continental Division the province out of place would be the Dryad Warrior. Unlike previous TVK spearhead division I've moved the working parts into assault divisions. The intent of the Dryad Warrior is to break enemy near unbreakables prelude to war. There's no expectation the Dryad Warrior will maintain constitution going into war. However, we devise ourselves around making the Dryad Warrior more difficult to dispatch by running interference.

Interference/assault are close quarter tactics we use to break enemy objectives into less efficient and time consuming objectives. The initial quest of the Dryad is to break a hard defense. By breaking that hard defense the hope is to make the enemy more breakable to the orcs, the humans and then the avian. This is a spearhead by opportunity, not the focus. This is where command and control between 5 divisions operate.

If the Continental Division achieves an opportunistic break on an enemy hard target then the "action" of spearheading takes place. This then pushes the initiative of the Plaza Division to run interference on enemy attackers. The practice is to collapse into the funnel created by the division that achieves breakthrough, thus pinning enemy counter measures into a narrow field.

Let's move on to the assault, starting with the Dwarf Heretic. The Dwarf Heretic opens with Expose Thieves on the likely suspects and reports any cast difficulties. If cast difficulties are encountered, the Special Division(HQ) is notified and lays down a casting field appropriate to the encounter.

Next, look at the DE mystic as a belt fed machine gun. We don't want the DE mystic dragging resources vulnerable to enemy sabotage, so we feed a nominal rune battery as the DE unleashes, let's say Nightmares on near enemy attacker(s). The DE mystic can exercise the option to concentrate NM or spread them out to maximize attacker taps. We always feed more than a cast requires. The Dwarf Heretic moves with sabotage and may or may not march depending on field status. We'd like the Dwarf Heretic to camp when possible.

If enemy theft is well microed then the Orc Paladin takes action to crash the saboteur, and the Human Undead from the Special Division is dispatched to cover the Orc. If not the Orc Paladin attacks the interference target, followed by the Avian Undead.

A word on targets: Assualt/interference targets generally fall into the category of enemy heavy attackers and attacker hybrids in near nw/acre range of TVK t/ms. Divisionally the objective is to push these potential dangers out of max effect range. This is not the end of our enemies offensive encounters. The objectives of an adjoining division might be to push those enemies out of their own max effect and thus results in a default chaining by incidental design. We can change intent on a dime if we sense blood in the water and the status is apparent to HQ.

While the totality of actions seem sophisticated, remind yourself that the objectives are achieved within the division. In our example the complexities that face the division are then channeled to the Special(HQ) and Plaza Divisions as objectives. The order of battle is to take initiative tactically to serve the theater of war. What this is, pragmatically, is understanding the importance of winning battles room to room that dictate the pace of war. A war analogy would be a sniper holding back an infantry unit. We must have tactics in place to be snipers and counter snipers.

When the decisions are conducted in real time between 5 people that understand each others tendencies we can sharpen our teamwork. Top kingdoms may have superior command and control, so all we can do is what we know in our wheelhouse. Keep it tight and be a conduit of opportunity.

Reflections 2: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

Quickly I will add that plan A never works. In light of this we note that the Continental Division is perfectly capable of marching. The options to open the field around your mystic via zone, chain and cross-chain are all there. These actions could also be part of the initiative if for instance a breakthrough is achieved by another division. We can't depend on having a wealth of runes, mana or stealth so we imagine ourselves moving toward enemy weakness perpetually, while adapting to our own weakness.

I wish I had more to add... Excellent work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RattleHead

I wish I had more to add... Excellent work.

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Thank you, but I gave your views great consideration. The only reason I kept one faery paladin was because I wanted a plague immune bottom feeder. In fact I'm still contemplating a shuffle that'd retain the paladin bottom feeder ability and improve the t/m core.

Macro, Micro & Meta

We know what it is but sometimes we don't know where. The simplest form of macro is evident in one of our most prolific whoring kingdoms, Emeriti. Currently rated number one in land, the phrase of the age is Orc Smash. On the surface this doesn't require study. We can see that orcs can hit deeper in nw and land not just because of their offense and gains bonus but also because their nw/elite is efficient in this function. Note also this is raw capability, with no two-stage presumptions based in mana/runes or dependence on soft variables.

Emeriti macro objectives are to win the land crown. If we look into what they're doing different from the rest of us it's in how they maximize these strengths. They still retain the inherent weaknesses all orc core kingdoms experience, but the focus is the land gains. One hint of interest was that Emeriti was using a great number of conquest attacks in their war vs Frost Giants, a dwarf/faery kingdom. This in itself demonstrates the savvy of their approach. They perhaps calculated their gains within a given frame and would then withdrawal before those gains would recede. Winning wars is not their objective.

We keep this knowledge so that we always have a fundamental position to work from. When in doubt we look at the best. We use our environmental perspective, but when we want land we point to Emeritis example on the chalkboard.

I'd say the simplest way to look at micro is how macro supports your leverage. An example is in avian speed. While many simply look at avians as a way of gaining more attacks through volume there's a level of sophistication speed can provide. An observant player will note the specific strength in being faster than your opponent is in what you attack. Like a fighter jet with a tighter turn radius, you will find yourself capable of hitting your opponent twice inside their single unique. Once you've arrived here you can dismantle a single opponent piece by piece. You're not restricted to land gains because you can equalize your gains within the nw/land framework.
I'll qualify my experience with avian tac in that I've gone on runs where I'll segment my attacks at roughly 1.5-2.5 ticks. That is one general with a defense breaking army every 2ish ticks. These were initially experiments in land fluidity, but I soon learned I could afford abducts(learns), massacres, razes or plunders.

How did I use these?

When facing an enemy avian tac I maximized my rax and stole gold to accelerate build. Once I had established a very slight margin being faster than the enemy avian tac I razed with one tap. This then gave me speed supremacy and I followed with general arson because there was a reduction in WT as well as rax. I continued my rax push and levied my gains through ambush. If you're working between your enemies uniques they can't ambush without leaving troops home. The difference in speed between trad march, ambush and alternative attack types allowed me to trad without exposure to ambush and use alternative(abduct, mass, plunder, raze) attacks when I would be exposed to ambush. Thus spreading my 4 attacks over a 7 tick spread, I dispatched my most dangerous opponent quickly.

Things don't always go as planned and when they don't we look at the macro serving the micro first.

Meta is by definition "above the game". We won't go into the existential meta like octo but we can look at something as simple as diplo. Again I'll refer to top kingdoms and their understanding of meta within my simple grasp. Top kingdom homes pump is a derivative of diplo. This is fundamental and aimed at the less informed player:

The key to whoring-top-diplo is that the competitive ceiling is based on the biggest kingdom on down. It's more complicated due to player awareness and relationships, but the brass tacks are apparent. When you compete in the top your primary diplo is with the few kingdoms that compete for land. This keeps the number of kingdoms you CF within a tight neighborhood. This doesn't mean you don't do diplo elsewhere it's that the CF environment at the top allows for accelerated growth. By achieving size you gain bigger armies, the capacity to generate greater quantity of resources and reduce the number of kingdoms that can affect resources. Meta comes in the form of basic fear as well: small kingdoms might be afraid to screw with a kingdom that can raze kill them. So meta works both mechanically and psychologically.

There are other forms of meta like sending mail to certain kingdoms to find out what personalities a given kingdom has without wasting stealth to find out. We're not here to discover all top kingdom secrets, but to simply give you an idea why top kingdoms are top kingdoms.

It Is One

All of these factors are interrelated. That's not compelling, but stated to address the way we perceive the game. The example in micro, with avian tac, is a very narrow example. A triumph over a single province isn't the point, it was a demonstration. The big picture is the elimination of the type of province(avian tac) that is dangerous to your heavy attackers.

Perhaps chaining is necessary, perhaps not. The idea of how to get the best from the kingdom isn't in the definition. If we're chaining highest offense first while leaving relative dangers largely unaddressed we squander resources. You'll find yourselves in direct max range with enemies you know will march. So will many.

The question is in the push. How much can we use efficiently and muster significant differences against the enemy? Many times we will ignore efficiency for effectiveness. There are times for it, but we should recognize it when we do.

Many kingdoms ignore the basic morale of province safety and self sufficiency. The flaw of chaining "because you can" is responsible for many kingdoms wasting time and losing wars. These provinces that take part in the chain sometimes are victim to such glaring threats. Sure, the player might enjoy fighting in the mud but they often require significant and timely aid that might be better spent if the chain was avoided.

Again, this doesn't mean you don't chain. But you might begin a chain from a mid tier position to open a zone. Then your tops max on the enemy tops instead of chaining, dropping them into your chain zone. At this point your top plays the zone, forcing any enemy down that crosses the nw/acre barrier designated by smart people.

My belief system is in the feel of the situation. We can prep for scenarios but it's the action that requires here and now conscientiousness. Just to clarify a set of circumstances, you have your top attackers and a number of t/ms operate against enemy top attackers in an assault designed to create a difference in nw/acres from your top. Your midrange attackers might have instructions to chain highest offense/returning army/etc, while you bottom are max gains and one raze on large enemy attackers.

~ My best wishes to your enjoyment of Utopia ~

Feeling Good About It

Good about what? Your place in the game. Your kingdoms place in the game.

There's a time when a small kingdom wins a war BIG and finds itself among the old savvy war kingdom ranks. All who've CF'd each other, looking down on this poor child....

You need to do two things: get over your trepidation and take the initiative.

The war tier is fairly proficient. They know what they're doing, but they don't always know what to expect. They know how to play hostile, but may not know where you will focus.

Behold your enemy. Trust me, they'll try to drain resources to both take material necessary to challenge them and invoke fear. Don't let this control you.

You are talking to a guy who builds pretty fat provinces that would be comedy gold in war kingdoms...but I fight and I probe for weakness. The fact I almost never have support isn't about me being frustrated. It's that I'm convinced that if I asked and received assistance in finding the creases in the enemies strategy that we would be in a position of dominance.

I simply don't ask. Why? First, it's not my place, even though the welfare of my kingdom is my truest interest.
Second, I enjoy the challenge. I'm driven in my half ass state of province management to overpower builds that should defeat mine.
And third, it's that your people will let you know when they're ready. Success can be intoxicating and can lead to overconfidence. I'm not here to breed bully mentalities. By gifting the power of courage, proving to fellow players that there's nothing to fear, doesn't guarantee they won't become bottom feeders.

I'm a product of independence. I've spent my most comfortable time in shell kingdoms and this is why I'm acutely aware of behavior. Because in a shell you're exposed to every tier of the game. How? You must retaliate to survive, and when you do you can out gain your opponents. You'll find it's wise to attack for acres when they abduct. You want to get range to push known aggressors away. This pulls you toward the next level of predators and it goes on and on...

This subject of comfort and how we approach The Virtual Kingdom are part and parcel. The divisions are comfortable to me based on my experiences facing opponents from every tier. There are aspects that are important to me characteristically. The 5 player divisions offer the focus on objectives the way I think. I find most systems overkill which many see as good, that I see as squandering resources. When I look at the Premier division I'm comfortable that division can get things done. You'll note the matching set of paladin and undead in the 3 center divisions for crossover debilitation. Sure, plague can spread in somewhat uncontrolled fashion, but we have the weapon.

Rest assured I realize from the outside The Virtual Kingdom looks like slop. My provinces look like slop and I expect visitors based on that notion. So you have to be of the mind that it's coming and that you will prevail. Not in some stoked roidrage but in the fuzzy comfort that you've been here before.

Why This Way?

Despite the range of tools and experience I see throughout the game, communication between operations and attackers isn't as fluid as it honestly should be. Psychologically, some don't want to be bothered to rubberneck what results one may yield from the actions of others.

We get into protracted encounters where all we're doing is waiting for our number to come up, do our little dance and admire the work for a second. That's great, but keeping the enemy down requires more than sticking our hand up when it's our turn.

The Band

[while standing at the entrance to the Triple Rock church watching the service with much dancing and Hallelujah choruses, a heavenly light shines down on Jake and he has an epiphany]
Jake: The band? The band.

Most of us aren't from a classical background in music. The art of conducting is certainly a coveted skill, as is an orchestra that can perform the conductors commands. Instead of aligning our kingdom like an orchestra we're arranged into 5 separate bands. The HQ division isn't where the conductor resides it's where the muse resides: it offers an emphasis on the rhythm the kingdom will promote. The strength here is jazz, not classical.

We want our t/ms working in proximity of the attackers. We want them to work in a symbiotic way to protect and empower each other. But why? Why this way and not another?

This is an understanding of the micro. When you war a good kingdom you'll notice some of the debilitating steps they're taking while perhaps missing others. When we run kingdoms as conductors with little understanding of classical music we fall on our faces. We tend to make huge oversights in the strategic theater because somebody thinks "less is more" or simplicity is better than sophistication. Let your enemy worry about what seems sophisticated.

There are fundamental causes to rise toward in war. There's nothing complicated about that. When you make huge, simple moves you often telegraph your intentions and offer your enemy a glimpse at your weaknesses. If no t/ms are targeted they might guess correctly you're one of those kingdoms that doesn't "get it". Thus, the enemy can play possum without revealing their true control of a situation. Why do they play possum? To reap maximum benefit from a sure victory. Letting you believe you're "in it" like Mayweather to McGregor. They can sculpt their kingdom in land and honor to be in exceptional shape for their next enemy.

As an individual I'll probe for weaknesses myself. You'll know when you've poked the enemy where it hurts. In TVK it's not just me, the individual; now we have 5. Where I was only able to anger the giant we can now cripple the giant. This goes to the Bruce Lee philosophy: Be water my friend. 5 divisions of free flowing vs hard square offense and defense. Again, this isn't about being better, it's a way of taking students of the game and awakening their strategic initiative. Play on.

Thinking It Through

Though the kingdom is segmented into divisions there's still crossover that can contribute to the overall strat. Faeries are gifted with the ability to share self spells so the breadth of capability was observed as advantageous. I'd have loved to have a faery sage, but we gain more kingdom capability by using sage elsewhere. The faery rogue can contribute revelations. The paladin can contribute a number of advantages including paladins inspiration to the economically stunted builds, and can hit after undead with plague immunity. The tac with invisibility can more easily grab intel on tough opponents and obviously grant clear sight to vulnerable targets.

The elves offer the high penetration magic necessary to open the field for follow up ops and generate runes more efficiently. If elf sage seems an odd choice we need only observe the bottom feed environment to justify them as a conduit for top harassment. The intent is to force enemy aggressors into vulnerable situations. Unlike many players I'm of the belief you have to make the bottom feeder understand that you can and will war them if they overextend. We aren't pressed about being breakable by bigger kingdoms, we want bigger kingdoms to be breakable. And we don't just want to demonstrate that we can, we do break them. In the big picture you're creating a more hospitable diplomacy environment when you take the initiative away from the aggressor. Damage will be done on both sides and like most things worthwhile come at a price.

Economy is an all encompassing concept. Why do we have 3 humans and 3 dwarves, but just 2 dryad and 2 dark elves? They're all fine builds in their own right. Humans are simply economic machines, so when we have undead, sage and war hero humans you can attribute these to the cardiovascular system of the kingdom. Dwarves can build in 6 ticks for free at 20% higher efficiency meaning their production vs build time is incomparable. Dwarves aren't sinking resources into their versatility. The dryads we have train 35% faster so we can yield real advantages by supporting them economically. By using our economy to bolster the high offensive potential of dryads we intend to keep them in tip-top shape out of war and able to break t/ms from larger bottom feeding kingdoms.

So let's say a big kingdom hits ours with abduction. We can aim our dryads at their t/ms to abduct. If the big kingdom hits the dryads to get those scientists back we can hit those attackers with our dwarf and human sages. The yield is key in that the enemy has to lose more than they gain from their aggressive posture. This is only scientist. In giving us unfriendly the game begins on how we engage. Fundamentally the balance between gains and isolation are elemental. Maximum gains are worthless if they are easily won back, so the gains coincide with an eye toward securing the gains through isolation.

Remember that heavily pumped enemy attackers are an economic limiter. This is why max gain opening waves can be devastating so long as the small kingdom understands the proverb of biting off more than they can chew. This is an incremental statement, not encompassing the entirety of a large kingdom. If the throat is too big to wrap your fangs around you grab an arm and don't let go. You may ask how this works into the economic synergy of the kingdom? This is about knowing what is economically sound throughout the age. Everybody wants to win wars, but we must learn how to concentrate on min time withdrawals with our interests in back2back wars. By dissecting a larger opponent, modifying builds and crushing particular segments per encounter you can render large kingdoms into hapless quagmires.

Breaking The Chains

The Figurative:

The consequences of being a common war kingdom are that your subject to every kind of random. The most important are those from above your acre/nw rank. In the animal kingdom there's a chain of life that starts with elephant poop to a predictable curve toward largest predator. In Utopia you'll note this predictable animal law in action. I appeal to your human perseverance in looking at this as the thinking players challenge. What makes Utopia unique is that some of the most intellectually gifted players have tackled their egos and reside together in the highest ranked kingdoms. This does not mean there aren't geniuses among us. There are geniuses that simply have a difficult time communicating their complex thinking patterns to the rest of us. Maybe we don't know how to defeat larger, well organized kingdoms, but what if we get within proximity of these goliaths? Genius can require interest, and engaging other intelligent players in formidable kingdoms might ignite their competitive fires. That's a big maybe. So what's the default? Learning by doing.

There's a book a friend gave me: 'Looking at a far Mountain' a study of kendo kata by Paul Budden

Warring small to average sized kingdoms or kingdoms that offer you rhetorical challenges don't offer you the opportunity of epic victory or learning. Sure we war to keep the game fun but without taking the pilgrimage of facing unknown threats we can get limp and fall into tendencies that are easily countered by those who test their sharpness regularly. You must be humble and studious in your observations. You can't just say they were more active or they've got more offense etc. When I say studious I mean take intel; lots of diverse intel. Make it part of your plan.

We aren't studying how to match our opponents, we're studying how to defeat them. We're studying for ages to come. A great linebacker philosophy is you don't tackle your opponent you tackle through your opponent. You must rethink why you chain without answering yourselves. How did this change the battlefield? Not just chaining but how you engage, what you engage, why, where, when....

What are the economic systems that make strong kingdoms? Is it lower offensive losses, better use of thieves, a keen understanding of cause and effect? All these things come to mind and the complexity of how they function. Don't con yourselves into simple answers but attempt to reach simple solutions. If the solution is complicated then it is. We don't rationalize to achieve an ideal. This is about pragmatic kingdom thriving in an uphill environment.

We go back to the fundamentals: which provinces can we break in 3 categories: tpa/wpa/attacking? If your opponent is immune to one you better think on that. If 2 they are a priority. If 3 they are an emergency. Mind you, an emergency can be like a wildfire. It's not something done in a day, but it is a problem that requires immediate and constant attention.

Final Silly Thought: It's that I never looked at the gains formula, but it works for raze.

Fine war kingdoms have been razing big attackers etc. from their chain position in the mud for many ages, and doing 3 max gains against other enemies in the chain mud for acres.

Scenario ~ Enemy t/m has a cache of runes and yours were stolen by the enemy bocan. Logically we usually do massacres/raze but those runes are likely going to be used against attackers who are vulnerable to ops anyway. For whatever reason LS is a gamble and theft isn't cutting it because the enemy has CS etc.

Well, how about a plunder from the bottom? Grab the runes, put them in capable hands and squander them on your enemies core.

Sometimes we forget why keeping our chained in good working order matters. We should want to make them a liability to our enemy, not just a liability for ourselves. While plunder might seem narrow minded, this is a narrow situation that requires creative thinking. Yes, if we can continue blah, blah, blah massacre/raze is important, but....what about the functionality of our t/ms? Again, I've not looked at the mechanical liability but a warrior crashing a t/m with a plunder serves kingdom, kills enemy troops, deprives enemy of resources.

How Do We Know?

One thing I do is embrace a challenge idiom to not attack unprovoked by my own volition. Oh sure, I'll wave for a war but otherwise keep my army home.

What I'm saying is I watch enemies take my intel and smash my armies at home. I watch all the training, the cost, the resources and time wasted wiped out. And then I retaliate, particularly if it's a powerful kingdom.

Imagine if you will the sterling 25er. You know them. They are big, undefeated, perfectly built and prepared for your retaliation. This is who I retaliate without reservation. But why?

Simulating what an actual challenge will be without accepting the burden of the disadvantage can be misleading. My endeavor is to unequivocally commit to the position of disadvantage so that my perseverance is evident to those who aggress me. There is no question in the victory. It is evident to both sides: for me, Utopia is a game I'm not playing at full potential. I fold for my kingdom unless my kingdom is folding, and that's the most important time to retaliate. Do you understand?

Why the "me"? It begins with herd mentality. The herd runs away and accepts its losses. The herd always runs hoping for next time. When we want to change kingdoms it begins with changing perspectives. What I've said might seem egotistical but my point is: if I'm driven to retaliate powerful kingdoms in superior position after they have hit me, then you can do much more.

Now turn into this:

You're looking for powerful kingdoms to engage.
You will hit them first.
You will persevere because you have survived their aggression.

The GMT

The GMT setup was part of my attempt to accommodate the contemporary requirements of an aging player base. Prompting a look at Eliptical Waving, my endeavor is to achieve constant activity by traditional minimum standards. Consider that each division should be up to the 2 uniques a day benchmark I've always found humorous in recruiting. None the less, it's the template of realism. I'm not a player who enjoys predictability, but a lot of guys do. If you forward the math and account for a 10am Singapore GMT first wave and roughly a 10pm second, there will be a cross scale going when perhaps Estonia begins it's first wave.

There will be avians and tacticians, campers and killers moving in the Elliptical Wave in separate orbits.

The initial design of TVK 74 wasn't aimed at particular GMT but I tried to apply appropriate divisions from my experiences. Asia was given the most no nonsense division I could provide in that a bocan rogue, elf mystic and orc tactician are pretty solid choices for objective based strategies. Bart can tell you. This division is backed by the sturdy economies of dwarf war hero and human sage.

I'm skipping to the HQ division because I want to explain the Western European theory. They just have better jobs than most of us and their presence in Utopia has demonstrated a higher activity level. They'll often deny this, but I notice who's on more often than not. Many have a nurturing if exasperated attitude that serves support roles well. I wanted them to have unbreakables to work with and ego boost through helping others. Finally, it appears to me Western Europeans work well in t/m teams.

The Deluxe and Continental Divisions are aimed at us, the US and Eastern Europeans. We tend to be more attacker happy, enjoying vicious assaults. While we both can be blessed with highly intellectual players we can adapt the strats to compliment our biases. These are the divisions where NM and plague happen.

The Plaza Division mirrors the Premier with differences in target specifications. A good economy and overall capability aimed at the quiet guys that win wars for the other side. This division finds the enemy who might be maintaing chain alignments, ops and attack in unspectacular fashion. You know the guy that seems to only eat 6 attacks a war? Yeah, those guys. - Anyways, by pushing enemies away we allow Premier to function more freely.

Elliptical Blanket

Since we're dealing with a kingdom function based in round the clock activity, one of the processes is an elliptical ops blanket. This simply means that fading spells and sabotage take place on a progressive scale. The lone benefit is making it more difficult for enemies to decide if and when they might MV.

We fall into tendencies in Utopia at times. One is the idea that Nightmare is a wave only spell with almost specific utility in chaining. This isn't fair to one of the best offensive weapons in the game. If we can nuance our focus to defensive-offensive objectives we can use NM liberally, across several enemy provinces.

Mechanically, the max effect doesn't just apply to attacks. When I was part of a NM chain wave we were instructed to cast until the troop yield was just under 100. We can adjust that perspective to "tap applicable"/ making the enemy defense into what's efficient for our attackers. And this doesn't just apply to chaining; we can apply NM to max gains.
I'm of the mind that there are reasons to chain and max, and do so fluidly without rigid parameters.

The objective should be the focus, not instructional starvation. In Utopia, particular to less archetypical kingdoms, is a misunderstanding of tactical isolation. That is to attack in a safe manner to retain strength while destroying your enemy. More often you'll see kingdoms launch into a full offensive, oblivious of their raw flank. We really aren't getting anywhere when both sides are losing equivalent strengths with the victory belonging to the most active.

Tangent much? Sure.

“Ask any racer. Any real racer. It don’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning’s winning.”* - “The Fast and the Furious”

When you're playing Utopia remember, as in racing, it's not always about mashing the pedal. That inch is what I'm talking about when I say how I've used Amnesia. It's a control measure to keep an opponent in an unlikely position to pass. My endeavor is to impress upon you that innovative use of ops/sabotage doesn't have to be done at full blast.

Ways Of The Mind

You'll notice the way I communicate confuses some. This is a matter of how minds work and I'll demonstrate a real life situation.

I work in a freezer and we all drive forklifts. It's important that we work efficiently; that's no surprise. So when I'm approaching a forklift that's going across my path I drive to where the other guys forklift isn't going to be. But what happens? The guy sits there confused more often than not. Now we're both not moving.

I've worked with some of these guys for 10 years. Now let me say that if I chose to drive around them cutting them off they usually gun their excellerator to get by before I pass. I'm perceptive and it's not done out of grief. These guys simply aren't functioning at the anticipatory level, they are reacting like a biological agent. This is not a question of IQ it's a matter of intellectual wiring.

This relates to Utopia because the majority of players are hardwired for the math, not the dance. You'll notice I'm not listing formulas or build strats because that's not my strength. Any number of players can build better strats than I'm willing to. I'm here to demonstrate the dance; the way we can play. As in my work life I expect very few in Utopia to play at the anticipatory level. This is for the few that can relate.

In my youth I played football and was made to understand the concepts of blocking: drive blocking, zone blocking, trap blocking. The forklift situation was a trap blocking analogy. I have a fellow blocker who doesn't understand the concept of flow. That I would be where I was intending to go, as would he, if we both simply executed a normal action. But, he chose to evaluate what was happening instead of doing. This same way of thinking; if I was crossing his path I'd have to slow down because his instinct is to "cut off". This is practicing basic animal instinct, not human existentialism.

As I play Utopia I note most players adhere to these animal instincts instead of their gift of mind. What I mean is, the math isn't the intellectual challenge, it's the way a predator measures his survival. If the player/kingdom is in the dominant position they attack, if they're not they retreat. And when I'm in most kingdoms I sense the discouragement when a strong kingdom aggresses us: the herd wants to run.

What if we didn't run? What if we really looked at these kingdoms as the animal with big claws on the hunt. We know the predator will run itself through upon the spear set against it. One day you have to trust yourself as humans had to trust their ingenuity with the invention of the spear.

I've pondered the idea that dogs are mans best friend. My best guess is that man has hands and could throw rocks. Man could kill birds that wild dogs couldn't catch. Eventually the dogs learned the process of retrieval-food-human. The pack has united. With an abundance of food we could now have a camp of keen eyed, keen eared companions that could warn us and help dispatch large dangerous predators. Even without significant numbers, humans and dogs could overcome apex predators because we combined the wild dogs mastery of instinct with the ingenuity of humans. The key element is trust. Humanity earned the trust of the wild dog.

It brings me anguish to see players treat themselves as a frightened herd. Even if they go against their instincts and fight they often fail because they've hardwired themselves to a mathematical system that places them in the food chain. This is why I try to explain to smaller kingdoms the futility of chaining in the manner they do. They have these brilliant strats with lots of offense, but squander it on inefficient strategy. The bigger kingdom might even have better strats which frightens a lot of players, especially the t/ms. This is a falicy in gameplay. The whole point is the adventure.

The adventure is the reason we play. Sure, you do it with people you consider your friends. Even without friends, look at the raw game. You might think you do it for the crowns, but without obstacles the crown is worthless. It's a game. You can look down, find worms to eat in the form of small disorganized kingdoms...or, you can war the best. I'm from the gaming environment where you fight the dragons, you fight the demons, you fight the titans. The Utopia I see is foreign to my roots in adventure gaming to the point that I cripple my own play style to enjoy the challenges.

My hope is to see some players rise to the challenges and fully enjoy the adventure. The tools are there if we work together.

The Virtual Symphony

The Virtual Kingdom isn't defined as a war, whoring, ghetto or honor kingdom. There are elements that separate the kingdom in how it functions. There's no wave time so warring is done in accumulated metrics. You won't have 25 players waiting for the shoe to drop if they understand that we aren't a warring kingdom...but we can war.

How is this done? The Kingdom will gravitate to the climax, but I've never been into the dictation of when or how war starts. It's war. Just because the other guy bunched up his kingdom into a GMT monolith is no reason is adjust everyone's schedule. We move in our time. This is not a statement of indignation. I can respect the other kingdom but my interests are not in his kingdoms sleepy time; it is however vital to mine.

Suffice to say, if you war well enough to bump into the whoring tier you'll have whoring neighbors. This kingdom obviously isn't designed for whoring, but we do understand pump and diplomacy. The bottom line is if we belong we stay and if not we get hammered out of whoring range. Now when I say this kingdom isn't designed for whoring I mean we have more of a war kingdom balance in t/m ratio. You can see that war kingdom "ratio" kingdoms are in the whoring tier this age so this isn't a pipe dream. It can and is being done.

The only reason to do traditional waving in TVK is if everyone in TVK agree. It's not a matter of skepticism on my part as much as a sense of empathy that the elliptical system is in place. I've functioned in good chain waves and to some there's an austere pageantry in having 25 stars online declaring nw and offense. But to me that's a picture and not a movie. It's not the undulating movement of the octopus, the changing colors, the hypnotic independence of each limb. It doesn't offer itself to the rhythm or melody of Utopia.

Not just in war but everyday, gliding gracefully from kingdom function and interactions to armed encounters. I've stated in previous TVK threads the idea of every province in the kingdom choosing one kingdom from a diverse list to Snatch News. This allows TVK to see the game in depth. Maybe I'll repost the council array, but we'll leave that for now.

The Quick Tactical Pointer:

Most of my zone tactics have been established by my attempts to chain stall. Chain stalling can happen in any number of ways, but independently I've done this:

General #1: trad march the closest enemy in range below my nw
General #2: ambush the closest enemy in range above my nw
General #3: repeat #1 against a different enemy
General #4: repeat #2 against a different enemy

This is the genesis of zone control in strife. You let bigger enemies go that are above your nw/acre zone but ambush to improve your return time and reduce their offense. You trad low nw to pressure the enemy economy and reduce gains in subsequent encounters. Now I would practice a system of spreading my generals over my entire unique to achieve constant acre flow and reinforce the zone. You distribute your armies into break-ability packs, and can at opportunity allow certain armies to catch up to others for heavier encounters.

The drawback is you're not going to be wrecking t/ms, and some kings get their panties in a bind because they don't understand the tactical bridgehead that serves the overall strategy. We need an aircraft carrier to launch fighters: perhaps the most formidable platform of cross-conventional modern warfare.

In other words, to sustain a number of killers there should be a soft landing in vicinity. By creating a zone you offer your killers a place they can gather and launch. When I build attackers for interference I'm pushing rax and GS not TG and stables. What we see in most war kingdoms is the same strat across the kingdom. I see it, lol. That means a counter is more effective because it works against all targets.

Argument 2 is if only certain guys build GS then the enemy will avoid them. This is ridiculous because that means they're letting your plan work better than expected. Like anything in Utopia things are not on full blast or totally off. I mean if I'm running an orc I can pretty much break a t/m anyways. I don't need to overbore to do an inherent job.

Look at real tactics and you'll come to understand why there are bunkers, pill boxes, mine fields...need I go on? It's to funnel enemies into the heart of your artillery batteries or some other horrific blood flood. Look at football tactics with linemen. Not everyone on the field are 300 pounds; there are variables that serve purpose.

Enjoy the game and Happy New Year.

Edit: To clarify the zone tactic; it is'nt that you're letting huge attackers off the hook. What you're doing is reinvigorating and enforcing your kingdoms ability to chain hard. You're offense will shrink, yes, and so will theirs. Your zone is created to promote alignment in your attacker array. The zone isn't a static presence, it's in constant flux. The conduct is to pull a bigger enemy attacker down with some attacks and push smaller attackers down with others. As your attackers gravitate into the zone the zone amplifies.

This isn't conducted in one area. Zones can be established to create clamps around enemy pockets, say like bottom chain tier to lower mid tier, lower mid tier to upper mid tier. When these zones collapse on enemies in the pocket the zones converge, and the push-pull dynamic continues.

The Air That We Breath

Kingdom economy is a virtue I've valued in many aspects. Some subjects don't come to light till your back is against the wall and we may wonder why all this offense and incredible spell power doesn't equate to victory.

1. Building ambushed acres. Ambushes are great for getting fast acres and cutting down enemy offense, but the back of that acreage carries no build credits, no spec credits. We need gold to make those acres work for us. In fact, we can look at build economy like that of the dwarf and begin to understand. What if we double the gold so the building can be done through acceleration? You certainly need an economy for that. What does it get us? We get productive acres faster so those acres are producing while others are simply in the 16 day pipe.

2. The ideal acres. There are no rules on this, but if we can shift our attention to winning ages rather than simply battles we can look at productive acres. I remind you to refocus on pragmatic nuance and not on full blast ideology. In Utopia we will be attacked so we can't just go full production in the hopes of outstripping waves in total economy. If we're top side whoring we can, but otherwise most kingdoms are subject to a plethora of outside interference. The sage virtue of 20% science protection is a foundation for accumulation through attrition, so to should be your attention to build ratios.
We want robust economy so we aren't depending on standing resources that attract theft and plunder, but offer the ability to produce considerable yield. Humans and dwarves, sages and paladins aren't a crutch; their presence is that of overall health. They can provide help, but as independent entities they can function without the aid necessitated by most forms of interference.

3. Counter economy is a system of assuring our kingdom is winning those battles. The undead plague, blizzards, dragon type, all encourage an eye toward forcing your enemy to exhaust resources while maintaing and improving yours. We don't want them rebuilding their ambushed acres. We do want them to waste mana and runes curing plague.

The Triangle and The Challenge

Captain Tracey: They sacrificed hundreds, just to draw us out in the open. And then they came, and they came. We drained four of our phasers, and they still came. We killed thousands and they still came.

~ The Omega Glory: Star Trek TOS ~

In a previous TVK I demonstrated the concept of the triangle. Simply the ability to break and be broken in the 3 attack modes:
____________^____________
< Wizards ^ Army ^ Thieves >

When we face opponents we can conclusively break we aren't progressing in any skill set other than intimidation. It's useful against cowards but not against those who embrace challenges. Those who embrace challenges will do both. Observe your top kingdoms; again, take Emeriti as your benchmark. They warred and lost with a purpose. They aren't intimidated.

So what did we just learn? The most successful kingdom in the game loses wars and wins ages and aren't intimidated. They're the best. This is your invitation to join the game.

When we face kingdoms with near to fully unbreakable provinces we can begin our journey. There are few shortcuts. When you Fireball a loaded dwarf you have to knock hard and often. It's here where we can appreciate the mechanics and tackle the questions. Instead of ignoring powerful enemies we look to them as willing teachers. You have to take your corner of the triangle and make it part of the whole. Observe the question, look at the division you're in and seek the answer.

You say you're not in a division? If you're in a fragmented kingdom, find the attacker, the rogue, the mystic. Find the 2 other players. Heck, I've been in 5 player kingdoms and none of us really worked together; we tried to stay out of each others way. It's not a great task, but requires a little effort to get two others in your GMT of diverse builds to join you in an effort to solve the many puzzles in Utopia.

Just remember, it's the pressure on 3 fronts and not just 1. It's the pressure on all your enemies, not just the ones you can push around.

These are pretty great Strato. I'll admit I haven't read the last two chapters yet though. I save them for savoring with my evening tea when I bother to make some.
Too bad I've given up on spending too much time on this game since there are some interesting concepts here that I wanted to try out.

Thank you, Matija.

Many of the concepts are aimed at getting lower level kingdoms up to a control level to better understand their strengths and weaknesses.

Command & Control

One of the more notable weaknesses in ailing kingdoms is the idea of giving orders. For instance, orders will be given for targets with the intended objective not being defined.

Admitted Generalization: In top kingdoms the micromanagement tends to dictate their success but still doesn't clarify the objective. We can perceive the objective, but we aren't controlling the path to the objective. What you have in top kingdoms is depth of understanding: the best leaders know exactly what to do, and it's great if the supporting cast is mechanically inclined.

When you're from kingdoms that aren't versed in all mechanics we should consider the strength of task force correspondence. In TVK the division system is the shortcut to micro. The order is to achieve objectives not to dictate who to hit. Oftentimes leaders with lack of intel end up missing creeper strats the enemy has in place.

Edit: my workday is starting so I'll complete this rambling a bit later.

Continued...

Perhaps I should mention certain aspects that I've found useful.

1. In war, attention should be paid to all enemies. Many lower tier kingdoms let intel go and tend to neglect important enemy provinces. Even tertiary threats can mutate into serious threats because kingdoms don't recognize resource draining aggression.

This is barely recognized as kingdoms accept chaining as just part of the game without considering the cost related with maintaining a chained province. This might be all the edge the enemy needs to train more thieves than we are. To then exert that strength in sabotage like Assassinating Wizards. Which then leads to less blanket ops coverage and superior enemy economy due to higher peasant counts to draft.

2. Sacrifices must yield results. If we ask an attacker to take bad acres in the name of some kind of leverage we have to assure that leverage is exercised. Let's say an attacker is asked to ambush poor gains on the part of an enemy to reduce that enemies elites while resulting in a hard chain of our attacker. While our attacker is now functioning in a trash vs trash survival environment the enemy simply has lower acre yield, yet retains the same credits earned in their original attack. Our attacker is bringing in empty acres with a crashing economy and limited range with no credits. We've already suffered an economy fail so we would be wise to invoke the same on our enemy.

3. Investing in dragons and/or investing in province strength. This is a fluid situation. If we invest in dragons and chain as a primary strategy we might find ourselves coming up short to pay for said dragon. Once we start a dragon that news is declared to the enemy. So the counter, if money is being poured into the dragon, is for the enemy to stymy our economy. A good way to do this is max gain, semi-chain, develop or use current thieves to sabotage and steal. Thus we have to perceive our telegraphed moves(declaring the development) with untelegraphed preparation. We know what to do when we actually launch a dragon(ops, wave, etc) but we have to learn how we achieve the launch with a fair amount of certainty. A simple plan would be to train thieves, move scientist, build dens and watch towers...prior to declaration.

So why have I stopped in the middle to offer perspective? Because the system of giving orders becomes increasingly complex and difficult to articulate without micromanagement.

We want to get past the questions of "why" and get to the rest of the "where, when and how". The division system offers the ability to adapt quickly within a given framework to the constant variables in conflict. We aren't asking our one leader to articulate every nuance of the combative environment. Each division has hands on tools and ability with backup from other divisions. We minimize the risk of fellow provinces suffering critical losses with help arriving late all too often. When an attacker comes up short we can take action to mute enemies intent on taking down that attacker. Initiative is key.

Premier Division

The task of the Premier Division is to take on enemy t/ms, super thieves and mages. The Premier Division Triangle includes a bocan rogue, elf mystic and orc tactician with dwarf war hero and human sage in support. the Triangle targets are clear but the support is there for variables. Support can run initial interference, offer economic support and fluctuate builds to best serve the Triangle.

Note that the wave ellipse will include the extistential Triangle of the Deluxe and Plaza divisions: these wave times overlap prime activity. So the interference heavy Deluxe Division including dryad warrior for further t/m bashing is in close proximity. The hybrid bashing Plaza Division may even launch prelude to the Premier.

The Special Division HQ is overlapped by the Deluxe and Continental. Thus, heavy interference and ops support lay the groundwork to keep the piercing divisions in relative health.

This doesn't equate to winning, but providing authoritative roleplaying to the division in question. In winning or losing the evidence will be apparent and offer clarity in the field. Mistakes should be easier to diagnose without the broad brush of misunderstanding clouding evaluations.

So Triangles

Province Triangles - your 3 aspects of defending and attacking: casting, marching, thievery.

Division Triangles - same aspects regarding the division.

Ellipse and Kingdom Triangles - amplified to kingdom level.

All triangle based aspects are applicable and relative to everyone else in the game. There are characteristics that influence how these aspects play, like avian birthrate or dwarf free build. It's these features and weaknesses that influence the specific strength of this concept.

Asset retention characteristics like undead, paladin and sage can be used as passive leverage when engaging enemies not equipped with such aspects. These are the little things we use to select targets. When we adapt to applying yield to province actions we can apply them on a larger scale.

We also begin to understand the value of unpredictability. The idea of doing something inefficient on the surface to achieve greater efficiency at the foundation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MyNameIsMatija

These are pretty great Strato. I'll admit I haven't read the last two chapters yet though. I save them for savoring with my evening tea when I bother to make some.
Too bad I've given up on spending too much time on this game since there are some interesting concepts here that I wanted to try out.

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I would like to clarify my comments earlier in that I don't believe I'm a better player than anyone else so I don't categorize this thread toward players who've competed on the highest levels like yourself. I'm happy if anything I've illustrated triggers further brilliance on your part.

Apathy, Machismo & Shame

In the more monolithic kingdom strats; yknow the ones you see all the time, there tends to be communication gaps. Even in some tops and many solid war kingdoms there can be a misunderstanding regarding the value of communication.

If you're in a tough war you may notice your t/ms aren't maintaining the ops blanket or enemy provinces growing unchecked. Some like to play it up like a raze doesn't hurt them or a massacre isn't effecting them as much as it really is. Part of the division system is to integrate different province builds much in the tried and true blitzkrieg. We want to know how our triad is being compromised by the enemy, where unbreakability raises its ugly head.

Sure, we can review intel, news, assess an abundance of information, but that's slow. Just as in real war there are details that serve both the invasion and strategic retreat. If we can see that our wizards are being assassinated and we aren't likely to reestablish an advantage we can adapt a defensive position. But we need to know when it starts, what was the prelude, how it was organized. Silence gets us nowhere. It's not whining when your attackers may suffer one sided ops while still being instructed to engage paripheral elements.

It's not that traditional wave timed kingdoms can't react, it's that they require a particularly polished and active player roster that simply isn't that common. Most wave based kingdoms have to absorb whatever the enemy throws at them for 12 ticks. Then at wave time they have to scramble intel, chain alignments, rune, mana, stealth, pending Mystic Vortex with 20 some players sitting with army home at a predictable time.

When you don't have the whole day at your disposal and you want flexibility you might consider a division based strategy. It won't carry the umph of a full 1 tick wave, but it offers much better maneuverability and intimate correspondence with fellow players. I'm also aware not all players have comfortable access to all kingdom tools. They may find the information barrage overwhelming and distracting. I know I have to mine my own intel a lot, just to see the enemy array and target enemy weaknesses. I've seen many off wave kingdom mates stranded without intel, gold and vital kingdom information.

By compacting the action into an attention bandwidth we can all understand, we can bring otherwise lost kingdoms up to speed and encourage them to take initiative.

The Water Is Fine

Looking around the kingdom I'm in now I can say some of the worries we have about certain builds is unnecessary. Some comes down to the quality of the player. We have a dryad sage who's doing fine and has all age. We have avian tacs which have been striking t/ms all age. We have a couple players running dark elf heretics doing well; I had serious reservations myself. Bocans seem like a great deal of fun.

There are differences in our style of play. I've been ruining my own homes pump all age because I'm too sloppy to time this stuff out. Some guys don't handle chains as well as others, but it just takes a little tutoring to get players to feel comfortable, prepared and aware of what's important to retain when you're getting run over.

My tendency is to keep a roll of cash and enough thieves to steal a little from the enemy. Apparently lots of guys release thieves and release specs earlier than necessary. I'd imagine the fear is that of being PK'd and I can understand that. I'm active enough that I can flirt with retaining a high wpa and monitor my peasants down to the last few.

I've seen a lot more high defense chained provinces the last few ages. I'm happy to see these new approaches in the lower tiers. While I'm a proponent of high offense chained, I think there's room to stagger these builds for best results.

The way I'm setting up TVK is to offer an option. Not just the divisions, not just the race and personality, not just ways of looking at the game. You might have an idea for dark elf undead becoming progressively stronger or offset divisions with different array or focus. I've shown my ideal based in preferences. It goes without saying, you can do whatever you want, and my ultimate hope here is only as muse.

Tactically, the elliptical wave isn't particularly special. What it does passively is introduce the kingdom to warring differently, and encourages warring in ways relatable to military strategies.

If we look at Germany invading France in WW2 you'll note the offensive was on a broad front with the actual spearhead coming through the Ardennes. Spearheads are relatable to chaining in Utopia. Thus, when I see a wave that is exclusively designed to only engage one or two enemies my subconscious screams "Watch Your Flanks!"
Without designing in tactics to cut off enemy pincer movement we risk our entire attacker core. The reason they, chain waves, work and little harm is usually encountered is because many kingdoms use the same tactic. - If you've been around you may've seen entire attacker cores disabled by overpopulation like I have. This is because the enemy might be doing a fully t/m supported max gains wave vs a chain wave.

The Special Division HQ

Part of the dance of dividing a kingdom between all races and all personalities is getting them into viable positions. The Special Division HQ is the peculiar blend that provides support and is ultimately the kingdom rally point.

If there's teeth in this division it's the bocan rogue, elf sage and human undead. The support is the faery paladin and tac, but these are more universal. We have a faery tac in our game kingdom and it's an oddly effective province. Providing aid, intel and self spells like all good provinces, it also includes effective army return times. The paladin benefits from plague immunity in that it can follow the human undead in attacks with no harmful effects.

In my somewhat nonsensical approach I rol(L)ed this division as Western European. Honestly, in my playing time I've noticed they boast the most activity as a whole..when motivated. I think they'd enjoy this more sophisticated position, and I think they grasp the unbreakable ideal more than some of us do culturally. Again, this is a wide brush I'm painting with, but I've run t/m types and I'm off the chain with zero regard for breakability.

But let's look at the elf sage because I think some see this as underwhelming. This is an all encompassing build with a moral zero sum team approach. Amnesia gets a bad rap in my opinion, but it's not seen in the battery I perceive it. If you'll notice spell effects, amnesia and nightmare work similarly in 2 separate fields. I want this high penetration unMVable capability to compliment the drastic bombardment of the dark elf mystics on either side of the division array.

What few kingdoms think about is the suppression effect in dropping Amnesia and Nightmare as a slow drip spell together. Because our 2 other sages are on the outer divisions, Premier and Plaza with Nightmare casters in the inner divisions, Deluxe and Continental. What's the point? These aren't only applicable to war, these can be follow up to counter abduction. So let's say some big kingdom crashes your mystics for abduction. They give relations. You counter with abductions which kick in gb protection, but follow with amnesia to sink the degree of loss deep on the counter victim. Sometimes you have to give a giant a bloody nose. He'll be alright if he backs off. The books will flow back. If not I'm showing you how you establish the triangle of breakability and to keep farm provinces to fuel the cause. As a rule I don't believe in letting big kingdoms off the hook unless they shave beneficial acres or show consideration due to unforeseen circumstances. But I digress.

The human undead is the dial up attacker here. If all divisions are carrying their own weight The Special Division HQ can embark on its own ventures. Here as the main attacker, the human undead can benefit from a great deal of divisional support. Since The Special Division HQ is bracketed by the Deluxe and Continental, a continuity of plague spreading and immunity is congruent with the avian and orcs: speed and power.

The bocan requires little explanation. The field of sabotage is shallow compared to ages past, but the capability here is unquestionable. We defend bocan interests because they can kill wizards and we like them for who they are.

War Spoil Dynamics

Most kingdoms avoid the use of WS because the fear of having no incoming acres with army out can be hazardous when the plan isn't thought through. The upside is the acres can't be ambushed and in the case of dwarves can be built immediately at no cost.

These dynamics can be useful both in and out of war depending on the clearance the WS is used. We have to be mindful of watering down tpa/wpa but otherwise, with solid interference runs, we can increase our economy. The not so big secret is to cast WS after a couple of taps so you have army with acres coming in at the same time as the WS tap. You have to account for outside kingdoms jumping into wars as a precaution.

Dwarves can do this easily, but a wealthy kingdom can also, with accelerated build and army training. A good candidate might be dryads who have the military capability to ensure healthy taps and already have a training bonus. dryads have passive land efficiency from their food bonus. Faery have the defense and generally have a good trade balance to benefit as well. Dark elves have converted elites they might protect.

When do these strategies come into play? I've used WS tactics when I was alone in a shell kingdom as a human war hero. The number of randoms I encountered offered an understanding of attack rhythm; yes feel. Essentially out of war you have an ops ceiling that some kingdoms are reluctant to cross. Many an undead war hero were aware of the benefits of running a relatively high defense and WS as a means to protect elite conversions. This forces enemies to counter march only with no trash offense to ambush.

So if we amplify the WS effect to kingdom level we force our enemies to squander the meter thus making the likelihood of one sided ops a possible consequence. In war we can use WS as a separator to achieve higher economy thus dragon funding, training etc. In zone tactics we can use WS to extend the zone and open on big attackers to prevent life saving ambushes when they're chained.

It's not a tactic used liberally unless you're outclassing your enemy by a decent margin. Dwarves will have built acres in 6 ticks and as campers makes them considerable threats. This tactic, if used with faery casting, can make the undead dark elf a viable alternative to traditional attackers. They will increase defense as war continues making multitaps less likely as war creeps along.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by StratOcastle

I would like to clarify my comments earlier in that I don't believe I'm a better player than anyone else so I don't categorize this thread toward players who've competed on the highest levels like yourself. I'm happy if anything I've illustrated triggers further brilliance on your part.

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You remind me of: I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.

My brain is simply laughing in delight that is the manner in which you put words together.

You flatter me too much, and it's working. Positivity motivates me to do what I can to help the people I play with. It's hard to make people want to go where you want to go so for now I'll just observe and help them reach their own goals if I can.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MyNameIsMatija

You remind me of: I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.

My brain is simply laughing in delight that is the manner in which you put words together.

You flatter me too much, and it's working. Positivity motivates me to do what I can to help the people I play with. It's hard to make people want to go where you want to go so for now I'll just observe and help them reach their own goals if I can.

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Comes down to people enjoying the game rather than being addicted. My enjoyment comes from being the underdog, but the game requires dominant players and kingdoms to make being the underdog a reality. When I've had friends in the game attack me and my kingdom it comes from a place of competitive comradery...and a bit of black humor.