Advice #3 - Power Force![Military Advice]

Today your gonna learn about 3.2 armies! 3.2 brought a totally new era of fighting, now involving a lot more deciding than in the old days, leading to a, if you adapt correctly, more fun combat system.

We'll look at the key points of an Ikariam Army.

The three most important for your Ikariam army are the Frontline, then Flanks and Auxiliary. Frontline is ranked #1, and the other just barely trailing behind in #2. There is a reason for this close bond.
Frontline force: Without a frontline force, you won't be able to sustain the damage that will be done on the replacement troops, basically, you lose all of your hoplites/steam giants, your a sitting duck, unless you got reinforcements coming quick. Once you run out of morale, or you run out of troops to funnel into the frontline, you lose. So yes, the frontline is the most important thing.

Flank: These guys are basically the "morale detractors" if you use them right. Many players don't realize the powerful effect of a mighty flank is. Say you defeat the enemies flank. Guess what? You have total access to slaughter their ranged units, and come in to squeeze down their front line units, which can be devastating both physically (deaths) and psychologically (morale).

Auxiliary: The Doctor and Cook are your two helpers in the game, and trust me, you'll learn to love 'em. Cooks rank #1 of the two, because they keep morale up. You lose morale (which goes down quicker than troop count, especially in big battles), you lose the battle. You need to make sure you sustain morale. Things like suffering more deaths than the enemy, being flanked, being outnumbered player wise (a 2 v 1 battle will not have favorable morale conditions for the "1")and just attrition (each round subtracts 10% from morale, all of which can never bubble up with correct cook total) can grind it down. Doctors heal your troops, and if your outnumbered, they can be your friend, in fact, anywhere they are your friend. If your death toll is lower than yours, your gonna be doing much better! Doctors create more efficient armies basically.

Now we'll go to the other things.

Siege: You NEED these to bust down walls. It wasn't put down in the top three just because it isn't as important to an open battle. They are a necessity though to win an attack on a walled town, which trust me, will be practically any town you attack. Always use the most up to date siege weapon you have, and mass employ. The walls can rip up hoplites. Also, these siege craft can smash enemy infantry, although I think they still kill 1 by 1.

Ranged: They shoot at your enemy! They provide an extra punch, especially Sulfur Carabineers. Archers and slingers though shouldn't be employed though, unless changes are made, just because their stats are so crappy, it isn't worth the cost. Only S.C.'s should ever be used, and make sure you fill up your ranks, they can slaughter soldiers!

Air: When you first get gyro's, don't build them. Only build them once you get bombardiers (balloons). What do gyros do? Attack enemy balloons and defend your balloons! What do balloons do? Drop bombs on enemy troops, but they destroy siege craft first. If you have lots of siege craft, you should stock up on gyros possibly, unless you aren't in conflict with players with balloons. You can send balloons on bombing runs, using small groups of soldiers as your frontline, to last a round, and to do damage to enemy siege power.

Strategy will be posted tomorrow
But now that you know this, I at least have ideas bubbling around in your head!