"Viva"
concerning destroying all of my castle and buildings during the course of a war with someone,
I have done this for two reasons:

a) if demolition is done in a proper sequence and the resources are needed to build one last good defensive force I will do it for that reason (i.e. fight to the last man) even though I guess there are some folks who have the idea that it may have been done to spite).

b) if a circumstance is such that I suspect "fowl play" even though I haven't bothered to get "screen shots" or other forms of proof and I can't prove it anyway, when a player obviously positions a few of his units so that he is obviously spying and conveying information to my opponent in war and even seems to be deliberately interferring with my ability to remove wall units in various locations so that I can't mount an emergency attack;

and when this third party's movements seem to be so well coordinated with the needs of my "war opponent" that I not only consider that they are "gang attacking" me because my "war opponent" is gaining information without making and losing scouts, but I am also starting to think they may be "multiple accounts" or possibly "sharing accounts" which IMO when used in certain ways is the same as a "multi-gang-attacker";

So if I have endured such a circumstance in a game, my opponent may very well find just a castle floor even though I can't prove it. No I don't normally get into squabbles in the forum about "bug exploiters", "gang attackers", "multis" and "account sharers" but I do suspect that I have encountered a few and when I am beaten by those I suspect of "fowl-play", I will continue to leave them just a castle floor. Those that I consider to have beaten me fairly will get my castle (i.e. unless I can make one last honest defence).

PS:
"Viva"
I think I'm right that the buildings can't be built until research is completed (i.e. e.g. if "military tech" is initiated on "turn 2" the military academy can't be built until turn 3). I think it is just a slight oversight that it is not really meant that the building gets built on turn 2.

*(edit)*
I have discussed this with someone
and it appears that I may be wrong about not being able to build a building on the same turn the tech for it is initiated. I admit I am confused about it.
Is tech research instantaneous?
Isn't there a one turn waiting period for it to be available?
It's been so long since I played I can't remember and that's another reason we need this information IMO.

TR

Last Edited : Sunday, 13 February 2005 - 00:51

Thatīs my view too, if you loose in a fair fight you should keep your buildings.

about the techup: If you tech for example military at turn 2, youīre able to build the military academy as soon as you have the tech. In the same turn.

Yes "Viva"
you are right.
I think I do remember now that we get the tech instantaneously and So if we are able we can build the allowed building on the same turn.

"Viva"
I would like to add your name to to these "flowcharts"
and I'm sorry that the quality of the color of the second one is not quite right but I will improve it.
I thought I could make the words smaller
but I guess they are too small.

www.geocities.com/marsgranite/flowcharta5.JPG

*(edit)*
I see I'm behind and there are more turns to chart.
I'll add them soon and the color is not as bad here as it was when I viewed it at my site.

PS:
"VivaChe"
Do I have your permission to add your name to the "flowcharts" above?

TR

Last Edited : Tuesday, 15 February 2005 - 20:42

sure np.

Ok "Viva" that's great
I just finished updating it.
Please let me know if it is basicly correct
but please understand that there is not enough room to do everything
(i.e. folks will have to read your advice for the details).
and also please don't worry about the turns I put in advance because it is just my template which can be changed to conform to your advice.

TR

PS:
Ok "Viva"
it has your name on it now
but I'm going to have to redo it one of these days because the colors are getting all smeared.

TR

The bit Viva didn't mention was the 'political' section
Typically, it was used by me to hide any inabilities or keep players on the defensive, but most likely a true master would use it not for 'psych warfare', but would maintain a healthy amount of contact with as many players as possible.

Typically, I find I have at least one buddy in a game before the game finally starts, but this is not always the case. If it IS the case, you may have at least one angle you're relatively safe from. You can't really rely on him to fight with you, whatever your opinion on the rules - the community is currently built a lot around 1v1 fights.

If a player starts to speak or act a certain way, it may be indicative that you are about to face a rush, and could give you the extra turn or two you need to react in time and stop him cold (as with most RTS, a failed rush is usually a death sentence for the attacker).

That's another reason why you would also try and locate all the players right at the beginning of a game, and be talking to all of them. Even if you're not me, you should have SOME kind of profiling on how certain players behave, and in what situations. Forearmed with that sort of knowledge, it takes a lot of the chance out of getting cut up by an early rush.

It's a pity obligations elsewhere keep me busy, but for now I've managed to get back my 60+ rating. But anything beyond that I won't even bother to attempt until I can guarantee I can pay it constant attention for at least a month. Anyone who thinks the above and what Viva say are simply the rantings of obsessives, are either blissfully unaware of how the top players of any game, or in any competition work - or don't want victory enough. It sounds mean...but even top dog in leisure is tough these days

Another good tip is to study your opponents log in habits. If you can time an attack at a time while he is mostly offline it can give you those precious few hours to move in undetected and hit them hard. Some of the best players seem to login all the time but others can have a 4-12 hour time frame where they are absent from the game consistantly.

going off that, i find it helpful to write in logg book times when opponents seem to logg in, ive had many times

this last game vs jatatuya(sry for name spelling) in LMS5 where he would logg in and move his troops, id i would keep mine just out of his range

then when he would leave id move my meele to specific spots, mostly behid his front line, and then attack again right before he would be back on

essentially i get 2 attacks to his one

but the down side is if he comes back before you expect him to and attacks your forces when you are not ready

Well that's why I don't really mind folks sharing accounts (i.e. if it is done) because obviously if they can't get on line they are going to get "chewed up" and I am stll not accusing anyone of the tactic of "sharing accounts", but I can think of several ways that if folks do "share accounts";
the habit can be abused to the extent that I personally would not be able to distinguish it from as I mentioned before, "multple-account, gang-attacking",

TR

Not a bad starting setup, but the new rules change it some for me. For those of you wondering what to do at the start though, it is a good general guide to follow.

that flow chart is not what i would say the best one... i advise u to keep trying there are other ways...

Well to be honest I usually follow this with exception of the upgrades (i.e. I get all the tech mentioned and the buildings mentioned but I have found even that upgrading troop production prematurely can be a waste (i.e. I have had as many as 150 macemen in the barracks and not been able to purchase them)).
Of course that is a good arguement in favor of doing the upgrades on the resource buildings but I haven't ever been as good a diplomat as some folks to get comfortable with starting so basic as described here. However, I do agree that it can probably be done if allowed by the preliminary diplomacy and intelligence.

Usually I try to get I think at least palisades as soon as possible after ballista and macemen so that I can obstruct at least one or even two sides of my territory and then I tend to go on the offensive. However, the last couple games I was in with the increased production especially due to an additional barracks with each castle dictate as far as I'm concerned getting agressive as soon as possible or risk not having an opponent and then facing an enemy with superior production ability and a wide tech advantage as early as turn 20.

TR

Good ideas, Viva. However, as Raptor said there are other ways to do this. This plan will set your military up for quick action. However, it leaves your economy behind and lagging in development.

TL

- If a player is not able to play this game for some days, it is honorable to talk about a ceasefire for that time. ***viva***

Nice in theory but ive founf 80% of the time that when I leave for 2 or 3 days military duty and tell my opponent about it and ask for a cease fire, I come home to a castle filled with HIS troops and all my stuff is dead. (then i lose soon after)

I also seem to get attacked within the first 12 turns so I have had to develop my tactics to concentrate on force production and DIPLOMACY. I like to have friends early on. sometimes its very good to place a few stacks of troops on the flank of an opponent that you think will attack you and then they do POW in comes troops from a direction they didnt expect or plan for.

I have a Question though... you manage to build Tax Reform after a turn where you spend gold building stuff and I want to know How you gain that 6000 gold in just one turn. what is the income/turn and the expense per/turn that goes with your tactics? It dousent appear "do-able" to me

rough estimate... your tactics has you spending (by my memory of costs) about 27,000 gold in a stated 7 turns. I dont think you can do that. 1000castle on T0-T1 then +1000tax (for 2000) T1-T2 then +500? GoldM (2500) for the rest of T2-T7 (1000+2000+2500five times) and with upgrades thats just above 17000

like I said this is memory estimates but it looks like your short but 10k. or is my memory not accurate?

Good Advice though... I just cant see how i could implement it

Marketplace...

my friend... marketplace....

And ohh... Don't forget the gold piles somewhere out there

tackedlugnut, i once heard this is a war game... and most of the time the one is the winner who gained the most experience, or he is in the top three at least.
i think itīs great to have all this stuff like trading, market tribute, or the castle techs but if you spend your money in these things you have not enough to do the military upgrades that are essential in a war game.

StCrispin,
you start with 10000 gold,
7 turns of gold from 1 castle 7000 gold,
6 turns taxes 6000 gold,
6 turns goldmine (upgrade) 4500 gold
and the piles
itīs enough calculate again.

the income is 2750 gold before tax reform.

the thought about not attacking while someone is away, is for you, not for your opponent.

Last Edited : Monday, 21 February 2005 - 10:49

Ah yes I forgot about the starting $ and the gold piles! I will have to try this sometime in a game where im not surrounded by existing foes or enemies of my clan... seems the same people like to target me... I do ok though, generally i come in 2nd or 3rd and sometimes 1st

WHY in turn 1 did you NOT upgrade the stone?