REVISED
EDITS:
- Support line has been removed
- Other edits, tips, and tactics.
The title says it all. Yes, I modeled this strategy after real tactics the Romans used to use in battle, and so far, it has been pretty effective. However, like all strategies, it has its strengths and flaws which I will go over.
ADVANTAGES:
- Effective in the long-term game
- Strong army and superior numbers can easily lay waste to armies of similar or larger size
- Battle line is flexible
- You can keep rolling out troops due to a strong economy
- Effective on long maps
- Versatile
DISADVANTAGES:
- Requires strong economy
- Army takes time to set up properly
- Weak against rushers (can be mitigated to a certain extent)
- One shot deal (most of the time)
- Not so good on short maps
- You need to be at micromanaging, and I mean GOOD
THE STRATEGY:
The star of this strategy is your main battle line, which is comprised of archers behind a wall of speartons. The main battle line, however, isn't going to do most of the fighting, which I will show you why later on. Now, you are probably thinking, "Oh so this is just another archer-spearton combo". No it's not. However, like with the archer-spearton combo, the shield wall of speartons are there to help tank damage that the archers would receive while the archers lay waste to enemies with an arrow storm. In order for this to be even more effective, stagger your archers a little bit away from the shield wall so your archers won't get damaged by enemy archers. Have some merics in the line too to heal damaged units. ALWAYS heal the speartons so they can keep on tanking damage.
Now with the main battle line set up it's time to make the skirmisher line. The skirmisher line is located directly behind the Spearton shield wall and is comprised of Swordwraths, since their high damage and low cost makes them suitable for the job. Once you encounter the enemy, have the Speartons activate their Shield Wall. The Speartons will tank most damage while the swords can stay safely behind and attack. The archers will cover your troops in the area of confrontation. The merics will constantly heal your damaged units making your army last longer.
OPTIONAL: Buy some Shadowraths and keep them behind everyone including the archers. Once a battle starts, use the Shadowraths Shinobi ability to instantly take out important enemy units such as Magikill or Merics. You can also have the Shadowrath run to the sides of the map and away from the battle towards your enemy's statue. If you do this, have them target enemy miners. If there is still some enemy troops stationed at the statue or castle archers, have the Shadowrath attack and run away quickly, as they have no armor and vulnerable to archer fire and swarming. Another good tactic to use with the Shadowraths is to have them chase after the enemy if/when they retreat. Since they are the fastest unit in the game (Order-wise), they can easily catch up with fleeing enemies and damage them in the back.
TIPS: ALWAYS heal the skirmisher line after EVERY BATTLE. Use the Spearton's Shield Bash ability when enemies get close to stun them so your archers and skirmishers have an easier time making short work of them. Have some archers on the side edges of the map to target enemies that could sneak around and damage your battle line (archers have a tendency to ignore enemies on the edges of the map). If there are albows, have some archers manually target them, the majority of them should be targeting enemy ground units.
Now don't forget to keep your economy up. Make lots of miners. Use your extra Gold to create a defense force back at your statue.
MITIGATING THE FLAWS:
As stated above, this strategy is not suitable against players who like to rush. However, you can reduce their rush attacks to a certain extent by rushing them in return. Frequently send groups of Swordwraths towards the enemy's statue to see what they're doing and potentially thin out their numbers, so when your main battle line comes in, it doesn't have as much resistance.
This strategy can also potentially be a one-shot deal. If your main battle line happens to get completely destroyed, then you're pretty much screwed. Protect your healers, they are the most important unit in your army. Even if the size of the enemy's army is small compared to yours, always protect those merics.
Now with the flanks. If your flanks happen to get wiped out, you're pretty much left with no attack and will have to go on the defensive. You can still use your archers to shoot down groups of enemies, but your offensive force will be significantly reduced.
And the last flaw, the economy. This strategy requires a big economy in order to pull off. You need lots of Gold in order to get those units on the field and then you will need some time (not much) to set them up in the proper formations. With rushers, time is not on your side. Also, you will have to get used to clicking on units often. Sometimes you may need to re-adjust units back into formation and order the flanks to rush the enemy from behind. The formation of your battle line can be a factor that can determine your victory or defeat. If some of your archers somehow end up in front of the speartons or near the flanks, get them back behind the speartons immediately. You want your battle line to be as organized as possible. This makes it harder for enemies to target your important units and it helps make your troops easier to see.
The size of your army may also detract from its offensive capabilities on smaller maps. Because of the large size of your army, playing on small maps may make the process feel clumsy and claustrophobic. However, if you know how to micro pretty decently, this should not be a big problem.
Also remember to constantly refresh your battle line with new units. Your healers can heal most damage and you can live with some casualities, but if a lot of your troops are killed in an engagement, don't be foolish enough to not buy fresh ones. Your economy should be huge by the time you get to building/using your battle line, so it should not be a big strain on your resources.
SPECIFIC TACTICS:
- Against rushers: As said before, rush them back! If you don't do something, they will only keep harassing you and disrupting your economy, which could be fatal to the implementation of this strategy, as you will need a lot of Gold and Mana. Frequently send groups of Swordwraths (about 3-4 of them) down to the enemy's statue to see what's up and to see if you can kill some of their miners.
- Against turtles: The best way to win against a turtle is to prevent them from turtling in the first place. Again, rush them from the beginning with small groups of Swordwraths to disrupt their economy. If they have a castle archer, send a Spearton and archer down together. The Spearton will protect the archer from castle archer fire and the archer can be free to pick off miners. Use your superior numbers to your advantage. Turtles like to buy big, tanky units such as Speartons and Giants.
- Against strong opponents: If you're facing an opponent who is determined to have a bigger and better army than yours, focus on producing more Speartons and healers, since you can expect to have a rough time. By tanking your battle line with more Speartons and merics you can guarantee yourself that your troops will be able to hold off big groups of enemies and your archers and flanks will have more time to kill them.
- Against Order: If your opponent is using Order, focus more on economy. Since you two will have the same troops and upgrades, you can sometimes come to a stalemate where both sides kill each other off due to similar stats. If you focus on economy, you can gain that slight edge to produce more troops, thereby helping you win.
- Against Chaos: If your opponent is using Chaos, you can focus more on your army than your economy, however, this is really only good early in the game, since Chaos is at an extreme disadvantage when the game starts. Constantly harass Chaos users early so they can't build up enough money to get some advanced units out, such as Marrowkai, Medusa, or Giants.
- Against kiters: Kiting is one of those tactics that are simple to pull off yet deadly. If the enemy has massed archers and is kiting you, immediately pull back your flanks behind the spearton shield wall. Sword and Shadowrath have no armor and will die quickly from kiting archers and a mass of archers can sometimes even kill speartons in a shield wall. Let the speartons absorb the damage while your merics heal them and have your archers fire in return.
- Against Elementals: (insert information here)
HIGHLIGHTING THE ADVANTAGES:
Even with the flaws above, this strategy has some big advantages. If your opponent is not a rusher, then you will be able to win the long-game. The longer the game goes on, the higher of a chance you have of winning, and that's exactly what I designed this strategy for.
Your formidable army, with the speartons tanking most damage, your archers laying waste to enemies, and your skirmishers cutting enemies to pieces, will most likely be able to out-gun and out-maneuver the opponent. Unlike most strategies where the main attack group is rigid, your main battle line is very flexible and you can easily move it.
NOTE: As stated above in the Disadvantages section, this strategy is not the best to be used on small maps. However, on larger maps, you can dominate the enemy. The larger space makes handling your battle lines easier and less awkward. Also, since there is more room, the size of your army won't accidentally leak into enemy territory like it might on smaller maps, where enemy units that are barely out of sight due to fog of war start automatically attacking your developing battle lines.
CONCLUSION:
That's it guys, I hope you enjoyed my strategy. If used correctly, you can easily win a match against even a more experienced opponent. Post some replays, and if you lost the match using this strategy, I can help you point out some things you may have done wrong trying to deploy this strategy. Remember, this strategy isn't designed for every player in mind (mostly for ranks 1600-1850). If you lost, please refrain from saying "Oh this strat suckz", as I took a lot of time into creating this strategy and there are a lot of things that can go wrong during a game and yes I will agree that this strategy is complex, but complexity can add a new layer of strength. If you do win using this strategy, you can really see how much of a warmachine your army can become :)
