Combat 201

[Mykan]

Sometime ago I wrote a Combat 101 thread to help a person at the very start of learning combat to find a way to begin winning some fights and eventually develop their own strategy. If you are brand new to combat I suggest reading that thread first before progressing to this one.

For those ready for a little more complexity here is Combat 201. If you would still like more detail after reading this I suggest you read my detailed combat guide, the link is in my signature.

Every province has the same formula of troop combinations:

• There are 4 units from 3 unit types
• There are Main units with a primary (2 units of this type) and a secondary (1 unit of this type)
• Then there is the third unit type which is a counter unit to your key unit.

As this is a predictable formula your army selection for each province will also have a similar formula of troop combinations:

• Your Key unit is always specialised against the primary and secondary main units, it is always weak to the counter unit so protect it from these
• Support (Anti-Counter) to help you stop the counter units
• An alternate unit which is best against the primary main unit

There always 2 unit types that can be the support (anti-counter) unit and other guides or players may vary on this. I have recommended the unit I think is best of the 2 for that particular tournament. As you feel more comfortable with combat you will decide which one is best for you.

As you progress in the game you will come across the Mercenary camp and Training grounds as additional buildings to produce troops. These buildings are not necessary as your main barracks troops are good general options. However should you decided to build these buildings you will find their troops are specialists against a certain unit type. As specialists they are particularly effective against their specific target unit types. The specialists for the primary main target for each tournament is listed above, their unit type is next to their picture to help you decide how best to use them.

Video
Here is a video explaining the same concepts

Thank you to @Jackluyt for his encouragement and assistance with the video.

 

[Risen Malchiah]

This is quite helpful, particularly with regard to the specialist troops. I have mostly just focused on the Blossom Mage and Orc Strategist believing the other units to be mostly superfluous. But I would like to get to the point where I can use these troops in specific situations where they might fair slightly better than barracks troops.

 

[qaccy]

Excellent post. I see a lot of players with the perception that the TG and MC units aren't worth considering but I find myself using them as much as if not more than my barracks units in a lot of battles these days. In fact, I've kinda mentally reduced my barracks units to 'cannon fodder' status and I reserve the units from the other two buildings for when they fail me.

It's also worth pointing out that, while it's true that the TG and MC units are 'specialized', it's also true that depending on which race you play, your barracks units may also be specialized. For example, human crossbows are very strong against heavy melee compared to mages, which diminishes the 'need' to train dryads which are built similarly.