Basic Strategy & Planning
So it has happened, your sword is wet with the blood of the natives that had laid claim to the regions surrounding your home.
The bodies of the dead and dieing litter the ground around you..... What next? you ask yourself as it becomes all to clear that the killing came easily.
By the looks of the mutilated bodies that the Crusaders that fight under your command are now tossing into a mass unmarked grave... You are not that bad at it....
The new Warrior paws his chin thoughtfully, Hmmmm, killing could be my "job!"...
you say the last word out loud.
Absentmindedly stripping the fallen men of their possessions, you formulate a plan.
As you walk away, a crooked smile creeps across your face & you mutter to yourself “Now, where can I find myself an Empire?”
The Birth of a Kingdom
Having made it to cycle two, you’re now several regions rather than just the one. With the new regions come new resources.
There are two basic types of resources; the same is true of structures and units. The most basic resource is Treasure; every turn, you receive Treasure proportional to the amount and type of land you own after all battles for that turn have been processed. Treasure is used to build fortresses/temples and to purchase lessers.
The second resource type is Fury. Fury is gained when your lessers kill other lessers or do damage to forms (1F for each lesser killed and 1F for each point of damage done to a form It can also be gained by sacrificing your lessers via a certain spell)). Fury is used to cast spells, to conjure forms, and to fuel forms at temples.
First you will need to line up allies and safe borders as well as picking targets. Start by scouting your location. You should move the map around so that you are aware of every player who is next to you, even if separated by mountains/water.
The world map button (found in empire info) can be a very useful resource to look at the state of the map as a whole, and perhaps see who is likely to go to war with whom. If you're new to the game and can't tell the difference, it is a good idea to e-mail all of your neighbors to sound them out on the possibility of cooperation. Click on their name within the citadel to bring up a player info page, right below their "statistics" should be a link to the "Player Review" page for that particular player, I cannot stress how valuable the information there can be, use this as insight as to how well this person has worked with others in the past.(you can also update a players markings from this page)
The first few turns of diplomacy are crucial, because essentially everyone is sorting out friends from enemies. Some are going to gang up; others are going to get ganged-up on. You want to be in the former group and not the latter.
- Open all your options by communicating with everyone around you.
- Be polite, concise, and open-ended in your first contact.
- Offer specific options for cooperation in follow-ups: cooperative fighting is better than a nonaggression pact, but a nonaggression pact is better than an unsecured front.
- Be flexible in your positions; don't make promises that you may later need to break.
- As a corollary, be aware that some players will imply an agreement without actually agreeing to anything so that they can later betray you. Be prepared to shift your battle stance. Also be careful that you both have the same thing in mind as far as your agreement, some players regard aiding their enemies as a clause for war, peace pact or not.
- Be prepared to make territory concessions for peace where you need it. It's better to give up the T in the short-term than to be stuck with an additional hostile front. But don't let yourself get bullied, a player that is trying to force a sort of fealty out of you is not likely to do things on your behalf, and is far more likely to use you.
- Don't start more than two wars in the opening push; don't start more wars than you have allies to help you fight.
- Always be willing to compromise, and DON'T let the more experienced player take the superior stance diplomatically.