Wondering if anyone else does this?

Only takes 2 of the rps units and then just maxs out on them. Ive played battles where all ive used were paper and rock units knowing that either my opponent was maxed out on hc or maces which they always do and then plenty of ranged too.

So far it works farely well with me. as my style of late is to use only 2 HCs as my only scissors troops in a 6k game and getting alot of knights which i need to scale back on i usualy take at least 4 if not 5 or 6 knights which then leaves me vulernable to the HC rush usually well my counter is weak.

My thoughts on this is either you get an advantage on their troops or you get no adv like rock v rock. with very little chance of getting a big disadvatage.

I have been toying with this a little, and it can work very nicely. I prefer a little more even numbers of Knights and HC, with probably one more HC than Knights stack.

*_* Biodus *_*

Thank you both for you contributions, it’s nice, after all these years, to have people finally support using a diversity of troops . It is, really, the only way to gain consistency. There’s a lot of great information here, and that’s what I was hoping to get.

Your writing was quite readable mech, and very informative, so don’t beat yourself up . I think your insights into late round units are particularly good: all those units with good offensive potential, but weak defense, should be saved until the battle cools down and they can be employed to best effect. Having six pikes isn’t a huge investment in points, but can make a huge difference in the late game once ranged units are thinned and hc become exposed. I also like the point that 1 scout and two swords cost the same as 4 spears: that’s certainly something to consider when selecting units, as the reach (and power) of scouts, and the paper aspect of swords, can often be more useful than one extra unit of fodder.

As far as using only two rps types, I often use that strategy in camp games, where you have a better sense of what your opponent is using beforehand, but I think using only two rps, while certainly doable, can sometimes run you into problems, as you CAN be put at a disadvantage.

Say you only use paper and scissors, as you’ve suggested; if someone uses scissors and rock they have two counters to your units, while you only have one on their units. In other words, they can attack your HC with mace and your knights with HC at advantage, but you can only attack their mace at advantage and their HC with your own. No, that’s not a huge deal, as tactical considerations will determine who really attacks with advantage, but it is something to be aware of. It never hurts to have all three types available, even if they are in different quantities. This comes into clearer focus in smaller games, where you can’t rely on the concentrated power of your units to overcome rps disadvantage. In these contests, for example, neglecting squires can be a significant disadvantage when dealing with a largely rock and ranged army.

I like to think of custom battles in terms of doing a blind construction project: you have a multitude of different tools available to you, and a rough idea of how big of a job you have ahead, but you don’t know exactly what the job is, and you can only take so many tools with you. The more types of tools you have, and the better you know how to use them, the more situations you can handle. You can bring big nail guns and table saws (HC and Knights) but if all you really need is a hammer and a chisel you’re not going to be able to do the job nearly as well. Of course, if you bring both, you can accomplish a lot more than by taking one or the other. It’s foolish to bring every troop available just for the sake of doing so, but having all your bases covered (in terms of what you could encounter) will make sure that you’re never left saying to yourself “he picked those units, I’m screwed.”

So, if there’s a choice between taking 2 rps and taking 3, I’ll almost always take the third. You’re giving up only a little bit of extra power to gain a good deal in situational preparedness, which is the key to winning games consistently. As mech points out, you could take 12 units of spearmen, but how much more could you potentially gain by taking 8 spears, 1 scout, and 2 swords. You’re loosing little, if anything, but situationally how much do you stand to gain? If you need to finish off some spears, and send spears to do the job, they might not finish it, forcing you to waste a ranged attack as well. Those swords may translate into 1 extra attack for a marksmen, or more. The toolbox tends to start out pretty basic, but as one gains experience they see that little changes like these can translate into big gains in game.

Rather than just buying a multitude of a few types, I’d challenge players to be aware in game and notice situations where you say “if I just had a - I’d be able to -” and try to address those needs in later games or even just experiment with units they’ve never used before. Simple is fine as a base, but as you go don’t be afraid to make a few small additions: one or two smaller units can make a difference.

BB666 you have definitely reminded me of why i shouldnt take just 2 rps. that happened to me before, i fogot.

This discussion has really gotten me to think about my troop selections and new ways to get all those rps into my army, i have to say that the scissors units except HC almost never come up in my armys exspecially in lower point games where HC become not feasible I need to find a way to add them in.

Thank you Mech, after all these years it's nice to see I finally got a convert

I have a new topic of interest, however:

What is the most common/serious mistake you see new players make?

I'd say it's researching all the defensive castle tech's before any of the troop ones: it's always fun to see a stone castle complete with gates and basic troops as far as the eye can see . After a few games you hopefully realize that, early in the game (particularly before you're even fighting anyone) your resources are far better spent on troops and econ to secure more territory. However, even in 100+ camps I still see this mistake made...tsk tsk

Last Edited : Monday, 5 November 2007 - 00:47

In the interest of this thread helping new players, I think it might be best to explain why these things are mistakes. Case in point:

Your castle walls, unless you tear them down and build new ones, will never be above 3k hp: any hp improvement techs (such as wood paneling) only affect new structures. This means that, barring you build a second layer of walls in your castle, a player will breach stone walls in AT MOST six turns (two units capable of doing the max 250 building damage every turn). That is not nearly enough time to whittle down their units when greatly outnumbered.

This also assumes that you have comparable ranged to your attacker; should they have more ranged then you (or better ranged units), then all the walls in the world will not save you. They will camp outside your castle and pick off every unit you produce almost as fast as you can roll them out, making it only a matter of time before your castle is taken. Researching and building up a strong ‘castle’ often means sacrificing strength in troops, and if your opponent has produced a number of ranged units, this means you’re already outgunned. Even if you have enough ranged units to hold them at bay, they have free reign of the rest of your territory, which means your resources will taken over, and again, it will only be a matter of time before they are able to overwhelm you.

Castle upgrades are only valuable if you have the troops to back them up AND if you are directly threatened with a siege. It takes only two turns to research the two castle defense techs and upgrade your walls; if you can build a strong castle almost instantly, why waste the resources building it unless you really need to? Troops are the only units which actually do damage, so having a strong castle and weak troops is like having a full suit of plate male worn by a cripple: it may look pretty, but any good player will see right through the facade.

This isn’t to say don’t focus on defense at all; it’s a good idea to keep your walls and at least a few of your towers intact. They don’t net you that much money when sold for scrap, and they could save your game latter on. Also, make use of buildings like the military academy and training academy (which you can pass through like a gate); marketplace and blacksmith (which can be used as interior walls to funnel troops, or protect towers); and barracks (which you can pass through, use as a wall, use as a four hex tower, and use to bring in more units). This way you can build a ‘castle’ while also building your economic and military tech tree. If you look at the castles of good players they may not be very pretty, but they are practical.

The bottom line: troops come first. You can afford to think about defense when you need it: the techs are quickly obtained and not very expensive should you need them. The last thing you want is a successful offensive to stall because you’ve wasted resources on defense, or even worse, to play defensive from the outset before you even encounter a threat.