Early Magic attack against AI Tech Opponents.

[kedaha]

I've been playing Glest v.3.1.2-1 Magic against Tech  AI  ultra opponents quite a lot so I thought I'd make a few observations.

Playing against one CPU (Ultra) opponent, it is very easy to win quickly with a surprise attack by producing 5 Battlemages immediately which, together with the Summoner and 1 or 2 daemons can, with a bit of practice, destroy the enemy Tech Units and buildings, leaving only one Initiate to mine gold in the Base. It is necessary to use Pause, retreating and repositioning of Battlemages weakened by enemy fire to minimize losses during the onslaught. If enemy archers fire from inside buildings, then they can be drawn out by retreating and then killed. To improve AI defense, Archers could hold their position inside the Barracks longer during an attack and not be drawn out by tactical retreating. One can also retreat to bring the enemy into contact with advancing AI allied units. The most important objective is to destroy the enemy Castle as soon as possible. An early victory could be made a little more difficult if the initial placement of the enemy base were created at random.

With 1 ally (ultra) against 2  Ultra Tech enemies, it is easy to win by mounting an early surprise attack against one of the enemy bases, again with 5 Battlemages, 1 Summoner and 1 or 2 Daemons leaving 1 Initiate to mine gold. The AI ally will assist by sending Battlemages and Daemons. After the initial victory, a counterattack against the Main Base only occurs much later so there is sufficient time to accumulate enough resources. Now it is necessary to help to defend the allied camp by sending units as soon as possible but the the Main Base is left undefended. However, one can simply build an Energy Source and a Mage Tower in the allied base.

One can use Initiates to help to build or repair AI allies' buildings but that AI does not help  to build or repair the  Human  player's buildings. For example, one can use Initiates to help build the Archmage Tower which is sometimes neglected for some time.

AI units only attack and seldom retreat to recover energy so many are lost unnecessarily. When attacking, units often arrive too far and few between so they are easily destroyed.

Note: The early attack also works well against the Megapack  Indian, Norsemen, Egyptian and Persian Factions. 

[-Archmage-]

Glest is no longer under development.
But GAE(Glest Advanced Engine) is, and you can find GAE here.

[kedaha]

Thanks for the link. I'll install GAE this weekend.
Update: I successfully installed  Glest v3.2.2   after removing v.3.1.2-1 but I couldn't install GAE because glest.codemonger.org doesn't respond  so I'll have a look at the posts on the Linux board.

 

[-Archmage-]

Your Welcome!
Have fun playing GAE.

[modman]

Those are good tips!  Welcome to the forums, kedaha!

I'm wondering what you think the best tips for playing against 3 allied Magics is?

[-Archmage-]

Those are good tips!  Welcome to the forums, kedaha! Smiley

He joined in June, I always check someones profile before I say that...

I'm wondering what you think the best tips for playing against 3 allied Magics is?

Migrate your base if there is room on the map, because if you stay where you are you be bombarded, and probably unable to fend them off after I while.

[kedaha]

Thanks for the welcome anyway.  

I haven't tried playing against 3 allied Magic opponents yet. Must be quite a challenge but I'll have a go.

I've found the following tactics to be successful for an early attack:

No time must be lost in creating the attacking units.

The 5 Battlemages,  and 2 Daemons must be brought to the enemy Base at the same time but the Summoner will arrive a little later. After positioning the Battlemages, the enemy Archers and Swordsmen will always try to kill the 2 Daemons so by moving them around with the mouse, enemy fire is not directed at the Battlemages. After the initial enemy Archers and Swordsmen have been eliminated, the 1 or 2 surviving Daemons can be positioned at the corner of a Farm farthest from the enemy Defence Tower and contribute to demolishing it.

When the allied Tech enemy comes to the rescue, it is necessary to interrupt the attack against the buildings and deal with the approaching Archers and Swordsmen. If the enemy Castle is not destroyed due to the arrival of enemy reinforcements, one must retreat and draw them towards the approaching Magic reinforcements. After that one may return to attack either the first enemy base with the help of the ally or attack the other AI Tech Base which will be equally vulnerable.

The Summoner is very useful for destroying the buildings but very vulnerable to enemy fire so care must be taken to protect her.

After demolishing the Castle, one can safely retreat to the Allied Magic Base to help defend against the impending attack but,  if possible, it is a good idea to destroy the entire base, specially the Defence Tower.  

Fire from the Defence Tower is always directed at one Battlemage or Daemon at a time so by moving the attacked unit around with the mouse,  the other Battlemages can destroy the Tower undisturbed. The Golem can be attacked in the same way.

Using these tactics, with good play, the game is already won against 2 ultra AI Tech opponents after the fall of the first enemy Castle. It is very easy on some maps to go on to attack the second enemy base but more difficult on others like the Swamp of Sorrow where the enemy counterattack can be stronger and it is possible to lose.

[Trappin]

Early RTS game attacks are known as rushing and as noted by kedaha can be a very effective strategy versus AI and player controlled units.

Archers and Swordsmen will always try to kill the 2 Daemons so by moving them around with the mouse.

MMORPG tactic known as kiting - Everquest 1 Druid class and Anarchy Online Nano-Technicians breed use this for powerleveling groups of players.

Cool topic kedaha.  

Rush and swarm works on some maps too. Rush using kedaha's tactic but then quickly build an energy well then start summoning daemons for swarms against the next opponent.

Destroy farms -> kill workers -> ruin castle.

[kedaha]

Thanks Trappin for the comments. I had read about rushing but not kiting. I first used kiting, to attack a Gollem but now I find that it can be used in many situations. When I first started playing this game, I always lost so I started using the surprise attack.
I've come to the conclusion that, with good tactics, it is quite easy to win quickly with minimum attacking units, i.e., making sure that the Summoner + 5 Battlemages all survive their early attack. Of course, one must know exactly where the enemy Base is located. First, one must eliminate defending Swordsmen and Archers using the tactics mentioned, particularly retreating and repositioning, and when possible, by concentrating fire only against the Castle, not the enemy Workers or Barracks etc. After it has fallen, instead of continuing the attack,  retreat to the allied Magic Base immediately, before the allied Magic Faction assists by sending reinforcements. The purpose is to defend  the allied Base against a strong imminent Tech attack. The Allied Magic Faction will soon destroy what remains of the first Base and after this, the  Summoner and 5 Battlemages can return with their allies to defeat the second Tech Base.  Here's an example:

Swamp of Sorrow -Victory

                                                               Player 1        Player 2         Player 3           Player 4
Result                                                   Victory        Victory          Defeat              Defeat        
Control                                                  Human          CPU (Ultra)  CPU (Ultra)     CPU (Ultra (CPU)                                                                                      l
Faction                                                  Magic            Magic          Tech                Tech
Team                                                      1                     1                    2                       2
Kills                                                       17                   11                  64                     3
Deaths                                                   8                    63                  102                   22
Units produced                                    15                  98                  84                     11
Resources harvested                          3720              24075            27027               1707

Score                                                     2822              18407            13302               1020

[kedaha]

In Glest v.3.2.2 Storming on larger maps seems to be more difficult than in v 3.1.2-1 because the enemy ally helps to repel the attack against the first Base better so it is better to practise tactics on a smaller map first. The remaining enemy faction can put up considerable resistance as can be observed from these results:

Four Rivers-Victory

Result                                 Victory       Victory           Defeat            Defeat
Control                               Human          CPU Ultra       CPU Ultra     CPU Ultra
Faction                               Magic            Magic            Tech              Tech
Team                                   1                     1                      2                     2
Kills                                    69                   123                   4                    103
Deaths                                7                     95                    14                  173
Units produced                 23                   136                   8                   149
Resources harvested       3385                27291              1185             42297
Score                                  8388                21829              918               21979

[kedaha]

Conflict Map in MegaPack v4.

This can be quite a tough game:

Team 1 (Notice that a non-ultra ally is selected. New players should select a Magic CPU (Ultra) ally for P1 for an easier game.
Player 1 = Magic  CPU. This is the best position for the allied Faction.
Player 2 =  Magic Human.

Team 2
Player 3 = Tech CPU (Ultra)
Player 4= Tech CPU (Ultra)

By selecting these options, your Base will be in the bottom right hand corner with the ally in front and the opponents' Faction is in the top left corner.

How to win:
1. Attack early  with the Summoner and 5 Battle Mages (4 may be possible) and only 1 Daemon (so as to produce a 2nd and 3rd Initiate as soon as possible to mine gold)
2. After dealing with the opposing Archers and Swordmen,  the first Castle must be brought down immediately.
3. Next, without attacking any more buildings nearby the attack must be taken to the second enemy base. Place the Battlemages and the Summoner by the Stone Boulders next to the Castle. With good play, it is possible to win the game quickly by eliminating Workers, Archers and Swordsmen and then, with the help of the allied Magic Faction, by destroying the second Castle but, if the attack is repelled, any surviving Battlemages and Summoner should be retreated for later use. If the game  cannot be won in stage three then proceed to stage 4:.
4. Send back more Battlemages as soon as possible, specially when the ally attacks. A problem is that the ally can stop to attack the remaining buildings and workers in the first enemy Base where they are vulnerable from Defence Tower fire so again, Battlemages must be placed near the Stone Boulders beside the surviving enemy Castle.