Questions regarding my strategies

[Dedas]

The thing with Ulm is that your capitol isn't that valuable. It won't matter what fortress the enemy goes for he won't be able to break any of them fast as they all got high defense.

Raiding provinces won't be so effective against Ulm either because when you got some fortresses up your troops and mages cost almost nothing in gold.

Citadel has admin 40 meaning that if you place it will it can pull lots of resources from adjacent provinces plus unlocking the resources in the province it is in. Compare that to building 800 gold fortresses with admin 5 on every province. Yes, much, much more gold is needed, and that gold you need to expand your territory.

Every fortress you build also has what I call a command sphere, extending 1 province in every direction. This is very important to Ulm who has such slow units. I always try to build the fortresses so that they overlap each others spheres shaping a defensive net and also sucking any resources in between; so no need for low admin forts. The fortresses also has enough defense to withstand one turns sieging, enough for the other fortresses with overlapping spheres to help out. This systems also makes raiding a nightmare for the enemy.

Thanks to the great admin you always have supplies for your troops when you steamroll your enemy slowly to death, erecting fortresses every second province.

As for enemy SC's and small thug teams they aren't such a biggie as they hardly scratch your fortresses. Yes they can lock them down but you have so many that such strategy is mostly a waste of time.

I've tested these tactics in several MP games (on the net and off) with great success.

[superdestructo]

Hm, thanks for input so far.


Concerning dom-kill of oceania;
In my game against them, I was using EA Ulm. I basically built a line of forts along the coast. Each of these had a temple and most of them had a priest or two preaching. I'm not sure how Dom-kill works, but I could basically only get enough priests to hold my own dominion.

I like to use a very productive dominion. Max growth and income almost always...


Regarding armies unbeatable by mortal troops... what if you just flat out avoid them and attack elsewhere? Basically swarm over whatever territory the unbeatable armies cannot protect? I don't think i've encountered any flat out unbeatable armies, but when a very strong army starts to invade I will try to "smother" the army by isolating it and building defense around it. Meanwhile, i'll be attacking as many opposing provinces per turn as possible. By my discretion, I may pillage things and destroy temples, labs and forts... has anyone successfully employed these sort of tactics in games with good players? Armies I typically avoid have things like lots of Living Statues, Ether Lords, spellcasters, and other summons. I usually have to make specialized armies to deal with such armies... or swarm them in huge numbers...




I also usually have -2 on the magic scale because I put the points elsewhere and it seems to help against enemy mages who invade my territory. Would it be good to go to -3 for defense? I think the -2 research bonus is a little too far. Other times I will go with +1 research scale to get the +1 research bonus...

About expansion... I usually hire mercenaries early. I try to maximize troop output and don't really build forts until I find a good location. Generally, i'll have several armies capable of beating independents without incurring high losses. I'll map out how I'm going to attack and I will attempt to obtain lands that would give me a minimum number of borders to defend. Then I build defense and forts there. Usually, I will be gaining at least 4 territories per turn by turn 10 and have the largest army... from there i just... keep up the advantage. I dunno if this is the best way, but works for me...

I like EA Ulm for their stealthy 2-speed troops. Archers + fodder from outside provinces early, other types later on to limit upkeep. I like to sneak them into enemy territory before attacking, attack as many provinces at once as possible, and basically cut off a big piece of territory at a key spot or chokepoint. Divide and conquer?

Stealthy armies also seem useful because they can sneak into castles to help defend or sneak out and stay alive and in a unit if the castle will fall. I think since they are stealthy and hide, it helps fool the opposition as well. The only problem is it seems that if you sneak them into a province on the turn the castle is being stormed, they won't help the defense?

As I said, I like to use massed troops... early on i often have supply trouble... later commanders will carry a bag of wine and sometimes a summer sword. (though i prefer a ranged weapon)

Also, wolves from werewolves don't cost any upkeep, right?

[Sombre]

You don't need to worry about armies getting killed in castle storming. Just script them to retreat. Or script them to retreat and order 'break the siege'. I believe either way they will end up in another province.

[Ironhawk]

Stealth / Land Denial strategies have been used in competitive games, yes. I've seen it most often with Pan since they can get a lot of punch out of those stealthy sacred centaurs. However, it is not commonly used.

No, you are still thinking in terms of armies. You are proposing to move around these "unbeatable armies" but the strategies I've listed to counter you are single units, not armies. It would be a simple matter (assuming your strategy was known ahead of time) for your enemy to deploy a handful of anti-personnel thugs across his border, or to have them wandering randomly inside his borders. How effective would your raiding be then? Or if he has access to a chasis with 2A so that he can Cloud Trap' onto your army, removing any possibility of escape?

Drain of any sort is an extremely risky choice in an MP game. While it may not hurt Ulm as badly as others, you will still be operating at a big research disadvantage compared to other nations who will surely take magic 1-3. The faster your enemies eclipse you in research the faster your armies will become obsolete.

My recommendation to you is to play a couple of test games and try out some of the common SC/thug builds. Play with the battlefield enchantments as well. I think that once you get a feel for them you'll see a lot more strategies open up for you.

[Loren]

Mass wave tactics, meet Master Enslave.

In a MP game I'm in I just watched an army that looked like it could steamroll anything in it's path.

It met a force consisting of some blockaders, some communion slaves and a pretender that was the communion master followed by a couple of master enslaves.

The steamroller is now going the other direction.

[K]

The most common newbie mistake is to ignore the power of magic(spells and gems).

Strategically, it has a lot of use. Invincible armies of troops can be destroyed outright with a single battlefield enchantment, but it is even the small spells that can turn important battles. A few mages casting Falling Fires allows them to kill far more troops than their gold cost would indicate.

Using gems wisely is also of primary importance. Always look at the number of troops killed (or saved) for your investment in gems. For example, a Sceptor of Authority will kill far more troops over its lifetime than Fire Sword for the same gem cost, but for triple the gems a Wand of Wild Fire will kill more than triple the troops. A Flame Storm will kill enough troops in five castings(total five gems) to put all to shame.

Research is way of more efficiently using your gems as higher level effects become better. While the late game requires powerful mages to get to these magics, Communions, boosters, and the summons are all ways to reach these powerful magics.

In general, your overall strategy should be based on what magic you are pursuing. For example, Fire nations are wise to invest in archers(Flaming Arrows) and Fever Fetishes (requires Nature and Fire).

[Sombre]

There is something to be said for extreme aggro swarming in the MP early and mid game. It forces your opponent to switch from research and building their SCs and the like to simply trying to keep hold of enough land to keep their income. It's tricky though and it WILL get you killed in MP a lot of the time because while you ruin your opponent by throwing all your resources at them, you also worry people and are weak to attacks - by going right for the early game pressure on one opponent, you seriously risk your midgame position.

In a duel though,.. can be as effective as an elephant or bless rush.

[Amhazair]

Freespawn nations (such as LA R'lyeh and Ermor) can put swamping tactics to good use, as they have so much chaff that you can afford to attack every border province every turn, and don't care one fig whether all the guys they sent out get killed or not.

If your opponent puts somthing in their path, that's a bit of resources he's not using to otherwise hurt you. If he doesn't put something in their path, well... that's one lost province. And if he really sends something consequential away from the safety of his main armies or forts to deal with your chaff, you can then teleport something designed to deal with it right on top of him.

[Dedas]

A common mistake overall (even late game) is to forget the importance of a mixed army of troops, mages, thugs and perhaps a SC. I often see people using a troop only army, maybe backed up with a few evocation horny mages, that are trying to deal with a single SC - and get slaugthered. Then focusing on their own SC to try to counter the other one, only to get killed by it. The result is usually that they resign after a couple of turns.

[K]

Dedas said:
A common mistake overall (even late game) is to forget the importance of a mixed army of troops, mages, thugs and perhaps a SC. I often see people using a troop only army, maybe backed up with a few evocation horny mages, that are trying to deal with a single SC - and get slaugthered. Then focusing on their own SC to try to counter the other one, only to get killed by it. The result is usually that they resign after a couple of turns.

Adapting is key. If someone throws SCs, you toss in SC killing spells...if someone has tons of chaff, you toss in archers or big evokers.....if someone tosses in lots of mages, you use battlefield-destroying spells....the lists of tactics and potential counters is what makes this game so rich.