Combat Strategies
Combat Strategies determine how an army conducts itself in battle, shaping both its psychological impact (Shock Value and Resolve) and how well it performs against an enemy's specific tactics.
Strategy is chosen individually for each army — an empire is never locked into one approach. A defensive army holding a border province can sit in Shield Wall while, on another front, a second army commits entirely to a Cavalry Charge.
Each strategy applies a fixed multiplier to your own Shock Value (SV) and Resolve (RSV), based purely on your own choice. Separately, your strategy also modifies your Melee Value (MV), Ranged Value (RV), and Armour Value (AV) depending specifically on what strategy your opponent has chosen — see the matchup table at the bottom of this page.
Garrison
Man the walls and shoot arrows against the enemy.
Garrison isn't so much a choice as a fact of life for a settlement's defenders. The moment a hex comes under attack, troops behind the walls fall automatically into this stance, relying on prepared firing positions and the simple solidity of stone rather than any battlefield cunning.
Requirement: Automatically used by garrisons defending a settlement; cannot be selected for field armies.
SV ×1.00 — RSV ×1.00 — neither emboldened nor unsettled; a garrison fights exactly as well today as it will tomorrow.
Rush Enemy
Wildly rush against the enemy and attack.
The default doctrine of every newly raised army. Rush Enemy asks little of its troops beyond courage and momentum — no clever formation, no patience, just the belief that closing the distance fast enough solves most problems on a battlefield. Reliable, available to absolutely anyone, and exactly as subtle as it sounds.
Requirement: None — every new army starts here.
SV ×1.00 — RSV ×0.90 — the aggressive charge leaves troops psychologically exposed; good for landing the first blow, fragile if the fight drags on.
Shield Wall
Shoulder to shoulder with shields overlapping.
Shield Wall trades offensive ambition for raw psychological staying power. Soldiers locked together, shields interlocking, draw confidence from the trooper on either side — a formation that has steadied infantry since long before recorded history.
Requirement: Trained experience level.
SV ×1.00 — RSV ×1.15 — the formation is psychologically reassuring and hard to break.
Phalanx
A dense and powerful offensive formation.
Where Shield Wall holds, Phalanx pushes. Ranks of disciplined troops advance as a single dense block, presenting both an intimidating wall of weapons and the calm of soldiers extensively trained to hold their place in line.
Requirement: Trained experience level. Field Manoeuvres technology level 2.
SV ×1.10 — RSV ×1.10 — disciplined and intimidating in equal measure.
Archer Fire
Keep distance and rain arrows over the enemy.
Archer Fire commits an army to fighting at range, trusting volume of arrows over any willingness to close to melee. It punishes enemies who can't reach quickly, but leaves the archers dangerously exposed once a fight turns into a brawl.
Requirement: At least 25% of the army's troops must have a Ranged Value. Archery technology level 2. (Ethlorien may always select this strategy, requirements waived.)
SV ×1.00 — RSV ×0.90 — effective at range, but psychologically vulnerable once the enemy closes the distance.
Feigned Retreat
Pretend to retreat and lure the enemy into a trap.
Feigned Retreat is theatre with a blade behind it: the army appears to break and flee, drawing a pursuing enemy out of formation and into a prepared counter-attack. Pulled off well, it's one of the most psychologically devastating strategies available. Pulled off badly, the troops performing the "retreat" come away rattled by playing the part too convincingly.
Requirement: Trained experience level. Field Manoeuvres technology level 2.
SV ×1.15 — RSV ×0.85 — terrifying when the trap springs, but unsettling for the troops staging the ruse.
Flanking Manoeuvres
Send a force to attack from the rear or flank.
Flanking Manoeuvres detaches part of the army to strike where the enemy isn't looking. There's no defensive trade-off here — it's pure controlled aggression, built on positioning rather than brute force.
Requirement: Trained experience level. Field Manoeuvres technology level 3.
SV ×1.10 — RSV ×1.00 — psychologically offensive, with no defensive penalty.
Cavalry Charge
Send the knights to break the enemy formation.
The most spectacular strategy available, and the riskiest. A wedge of mounted troops thunders into the enemy line at full pace, aiming to shatter morale before a single blade properly connects. If the charge lands, the psychological shock is unmatched. If it's checked or absorbed, the cavalry are left disordered and badly exposed.
Requirement: Marching technology level 2. Field Manoeuvres technology level 2. At least 25% of the army must be cavalry.
SV ×1.25 — RSV ×0.90 — the single highest Shock Value of any strategy, but cavalry are fully committed and brittle under sustained pressure.
Oblique Order
Strengthen one flank and push the enemy backwards.
Oblique Order asks an army to deliberately weight one flank, concentrating strength where it matters most and rolling the enemy line from that side. It demands experienced troops capable of holding a deliberately uneven formation without it collapsing.
Requirement: Experienced experience level. Military Academy technology level 2. Field Manoeuvres technology level 2.
SV ×1.10 — RSV ×1.00 — controlled aggression with no defensive penalty.
Siege Warfare
Unleash your siege engines against the enemy city.
Siege Warfare is less a battlefield tactic than a methodical, patient grind — engines battering at walls, soldiers settling in for as long as it takes. There's nothing dramatic about it, which is precisely why it steadies the nerves of the troops conducting it.
Requirement: At least one siege engine for every 500 troops in the army.
SV ×1.00 — RSV ×1.15 — a patient, methodical approach that reassures the besieging force.
Skirmish
Keep the distance and make smaller attacks.
Skirmish avoids the pitched battle altogether, favouring small hit-and-run engagements that wear an enemy down rather than confronting them head-on. It trades shock value for patience — there's no dramatic psychological blow here, just attrition.
Requirement: Trained experience level. Military Academy technology level 1. Archery technology level 1.
SV ×0.85 — RSV ×1.00 — avoiding pitched battle reduces the psychological pressure placed on the enemy, for better or worse.
Strategy Matchups
Beyond the fixed SV/RSV multipliers above, your chosen strategy also modifies your MV, RV, and AV depending on what your opponent is using. Find your own strategy in the left-hand column, then read across to the column matching your opponent's strategy:
| Your Strategy | GA | RE | WA | PH | AF | FR | FM | CC | OO | SW | SK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garrison (GA) | 0% | +30% | +10% | +10% | -10% | +10% | +10% | +10% | +10% | -10% | +10% |
| Rush Enemy (RE) | -10% | 0% | -10% | -10% | +30% | -10% | -10% | -10% | -10% | +30% | -10% |
| Shield Wall (WA) | -10% | +30% | 0% | -10% | +10% | -10% | -10% | +10% | 0% | +10% | +10% |
| Phalanx (PH) | -10% | +50% | +30% | 0% | +10% | -10% | -30% | +30% | 0% | +10% | +10% |
| Archer Fire (AF) | +10% | +30% | +10% | +15% | 0% | -10% | -10% | -30% | 0% | +10% | 0% |
| Feigned Retreat (FR) | -10% | +50% | +30% | +30% | +10% | 0% | +10% | +30% | +10% | +10% | +30% |
| Flanking Manoeuvres (FM) | -30% | +30% | +50% | +30% | +50% | +10% | 0% | +10% | 0% | 0% | +10% |
| Cavalry Charge (CC) | -30% | +50% | +10% | -30% | +50% | +10% | +30% | 0% | +10% | +50% | +10% |
| Oblique Order (OO) | -30% | +30% | +30% | +30% | 0% | +10% | +10% | -10% | 0% | +30% | +10% |
| Siege Warfare (SW) | +50% | -10% | -10% | -10% | -10% | -10% | -10% | -10% | -10% | 0% | -10% |
| Skirmish (SK) | -10% | +30% | +10% | +10% | +10% | +30% | -10% | +10% | +10% | 0% | 0% |
Worked example: an army using Cavalry Charge against an enemy in Phalanx reads -30% — a tight, disciplined formation is built specifically to absorb a charge. The same Cavalry Charge against an enemy who panicked into Rush Enemy instead reads +50% — a chaotic headlong attack has no answer to mounted shock.
