This is just a guide line. The following are ideas that I and other have used and or are using. I have pulled together information from the FPS servers, zzzzaacckk, Bottle, M_A_D, Quicksandslowly, Soudeus, Apt142, Hyperlink and AasumDude. Links are posted within the document and you will find two damage charts at the very end. If you find areas that we have not touched on or explained that much then feel free too E-Mail any and all new idea and explain your self.

Newbies Guide on FPS

1. Cleric

Good news:
The Cleric is able to heal every five turns - or every three turns if you don't move it. In perfect conditions, the Cleric could heal 120 HP worth (12 pts on each unit, assuming all are still alive and have taken at least 12 HP of damage to heal). Nothing (at least nothing Grey) can match that. It's also the only way to regain HP, so taking a Cleric to your formation tends to be widely considered a good idea.

Bad news:
The Cleric has no armor, no blocking ability, low HP, low mobility, and high waiting time. It can be killed with a single attack by the Witch, and most other combinations kill it with two attacks even if the Cleric heals between the attacks.

Conclusions:
The Cleric should be on the field, and well out of harm's way. Typically this means putting the Cleric in a back row corner. Locations other than the back row are risky, as there is no way to protect them from witchburn. Any back row location can be protected from witchburn by putting something four spaces in front of the Cleric.

Locations closer to the middle of the back row are possible as well. this allows the Cleric to escape to either side if attacked, but also doubles the possible routes to attack the Cleric. As the Cleric is rarely moved - never moved, if possible, as a Cleric that moves takes five turns to recover whereas a Cleric that only heals recovers in three - it makes sense to put something that does not need to move much to protect the Cleric. Some use a Knight. A Lightning Ward is the most common choice, as this way its inability to move becomes almost irrelevant in the early stages of the game.


2. Lightning Ward

Good news:
The Lightning Ward does more damage per hit than any other Grey unit. It also has the most HP, second-best armour amongst all Grey units, 100% blocking on all sides which makes it immune to swords, daggers, and arrows unless paralysed. It has a nice range, and can kill Pyros and Clerics with a single shot. LW attacks are unblockable.

Bad news:
The Ward cannot move. It can be gradually murdered by Pyros and Witches as they outrange the LW. An Enchantress can paralyse the LW without getting attacked in return as its combined range + movement total more than the LW's range. As the Ward is immobile, the opponent can win without ever touching it. The high damage attack is meaningless if the opponent goes around it. The Lightning Ward only acts rarely.

Conclusions:
The Lightning Ward is basically a deterrent - a mine field. It makes it perilous for an opponent to come close, so most steer clear and go around. Consequently, the Ward is typically available when needed, and the opponent keeps going around it. It can provide a haven for your units to retreat to. It can stand a long time even under an all-out assault, so placing it in the front row can protect the Cleric from Witch attacks during the early stages of the game. The Lightning Ward is probably the main reason why Clerics die typically of hazards other than witchfire.

A foolhardy spellcaster that comes even close is likely to be blasted off the map after her (or his, with Pyro) first shot, which has no real effect as front row units have enough armour and HP to survive the damage until healed. Gold accounts, however, have the means to make a spellcaster (or even a Cleric) survive a (single) lightning hit.


3. Knight

Good news:
Knights are awesome at melee. They are even more durable than the Lightning Ward as their armour reduces all incoming damage by 25%. Knight blocking ability is the best amongst non-constructs. They stop almost all blockable frontal attacks, and even their side blocking is better than the frontal blocking of Pyros and Witches. A movement of three spaces is considerable, especially in the endgame when there are fewer obstacles to go around. With a waiting period of 1, a Knight that does not attack can march every turn, which makes it hard to anticipate and even harder to stop. A Knight therefore has a reasonable chance of making it through the enemy lines to take out a Cleric with insufficient protection. Two Knights attacking together is even better - Knight A moves and attacks; on the next turn Knight B moves and attacks; then A again. As both members of the tag team are likely to be attacked, the Cleric can then heal them both, undoing 2 * 12 / (1 - 25/100), or 32 points of damage.

Bad news:
The Knights have the most limited attack form of all units, hitting only one adjacent space. They, like the Assassin, are very vulnerable to Enchantresses, and may have trouble when a Barrier is used against them. As the Knight attack is blockable, Knights can't damage Lightning Wards or inactive Barriers. They also have a hard time getting past the frontal defenses of another Knight (20% chance of a hit), Assassin (30%), or Scout (40%).

Conclusions:
Early on, the Knight is a defensive unit. Knights standing side by side are not likely to be hit from the flanks or the rear, except by arrows. Knights are good for attacking units with high waiting times and low blocking chances such as the Witch or the Pyro (and in the right circumstances, the Enchantress or the Cleric). They can weather out a spell hit well, and recover to attack again significantly faster than a hostile spellcaster can.

The turn after the Knight attacks can well be used to heal the Knight, which completely undoes the effects of a Pyro attack, and heals all but 5 HP of a witchfire blast. Knights in the endgame are very difficult to kill, and can take out most other units because they can walk twice on consequtive turns and then attack a unit that was seven spaces away. Seven spaces, incidentally, is more than the maximum range of a Scout arrow. It is also enough to hit a unit up to four spaces away in the flank, or rear if not in the same line or row as the Knight. Four spaces is the maximum range of spellcasting units, whose recovery times are so long that the Knight can perform the forced march to score a rear shot. Of course, spellcaster blocking chances are so dismal that a flank shot is often good enough. At a duel, a knight kills a pyro or witch almost certainly.

In a Knight vs Knight duel, as was spoken in an excellent article in the Strategy forum, it can be a good idea to go around the hostile Knight and attack from the rear rather than take the immediate opportunity of hitting from the flank. This, of course, depends on the circumstances. Let's consider a to the death duel between two Knights. For simplicity, let's say that the board is large enough so that the edges are irrelevant, and there no other units onboard.

Flanker vs Backstabber: F: Attacks B in the flank. (60% chance of 17 HP damage) B: Walks around the enemy knight. F: Wait: 1 B: Attacks F in the back. (does 17 HP damage) F: Attacks B in the flank. (60% chance of 17 HP damage) B: Wait: 1 F: Wait: 1

Flanker acts four times, backstabber three times. Two flank attacks vs one rear attack. Which is better?

36% of the time, F hits twice. 48% of the time, F hits one and is blocked twice. 16% of the time, F is blocked twice. 100% of the time, B hits once.

Expected amounts of damage:

Flanker: 36/100*34 + 48/100*17 + 16/100*0 = 6.12 + 8.16 + 0 = 14.28 HP

Backstabber: 100/100 * 17 = 17 HP.

Of course, the issue is usually not how much damage is caused, but how likely it is that the hostile Knight dies first - but for a simple analysis, it is enough to say that in the long run, a strategy of backstabbing is more likely to do more damage per turn than flanking. Backstabbing might not be possible though, as a skilled player may find ways to deny it - using the edge of the map for example, or placing the knight's back against a friendly unit.


4. Assassin:

Good news:
Besides the Knight, the Assassin is the only very fast unit. With Wait: 1, the Assassin can move every turn. Decent HP and light armour give her quite a bit of durability, and 18 power makes her a power to be reckoned with; enough to take out the Cleric with two units despite a heal between the attacks.

The hit in all directions attack makes her a guerrilla that under the right circumstances can wound two (or even four!) units at a time, forcing the opponent to either choose which one to evacuate at the cost of the other, or to heal. If the opponent doesn't have the ability to heal, it can even make an attack hitting frontal shots against skilled blockers worth it, as the several attempts makes it relatively likely to score at least one hit despite bad odds (for example, the chances of scoring at least one hit when hitting a frontal shot vs a Knight and another Assassin is better than a chance to hit a Scout from the front (44% vs 40%).

The Assassin's main strength however is her running speed. No unit can match the ability to move four spaces per turn - every turn. Even the fastest Gold unit pales in comparison (5 spaces teleport every other turn.) This may well allow her to go behind enemy lines to attack the vulnerable support units (that is, the Cleric) and only be attacked once while at it. No Grey unit can stop the Assassin with one hit, except of course the Enchantress.

Four spaces is also enough to enable the Assassin to start a turn face-to-face with a unit, and end the turn stabbing that unit in the back.

Bad news:
The Assassin has the same main weakness as the of the Knight; low reach, blockable attacks. It also has worse blocking ability and way less HP that the Knight.

Conclusions:
The Assassin works well as a behind-the-lines unit, seizing opportunities, finishing off vulnerable units, and often, living to tell the tale. It can also function as a defensive unit almost as well as the Knight.

In a face-to-face bout with the Knight, the Assassin does roughly as much damage as the Knight using rear attacks. Due to the Assassin's lighter armour, the Knight does 20HP of damage per hit, which happens once per three turns; the Assassin does 13HP damage every second turn. That's 40HP damage vs 39 damage per six turns.

Alternatively, the Knight can attack every other turn, using flank attacks, matching the attack pace of the Assassin. 65% chance a flank hit gives an expected amount of damage of 13 HP per hit - exactly what the Assassin is guaranteed to do to the Knight with every rear attack.

The Knight has the asset that it can survive 39 damage while the Assassin is killed before reaching 39 or 40. The Assassin, on the other hand, can outrun the Knight, giving her the choice of the conditions of the duel - quite likely including the first strike.


5. Scout


Good news:
The Scout moves far, and shoots farther. Unless something gets in the way, it can hit targets up to 10 spaces away by first moving four spaces towards the target and then firing to maximum range. As the greatest distance on the map is 16, this means that a Scout near the center of the board can fire an arrow towards any space onboard. At 18 damage per arrow, the Scout can kill a Cleric with two arrows, even if the Cleric does first aid on himself.

Bad news:
While the Scout is probably the best available to Greys, there is only one. Golds have two, but this is not on the list of unit drops. Scouts are relatively fragile, amongst the top two priorities for most opponents to kill (the Cleric, of course, being the other top priority target). Despite 40 HP and 60% (30%) blocking, Scouts are fairly fragile. Arrows can be blocked, and require line-of-sight.

Conclusions
Learning what shots are doable and what are not is something a player really needs to know. There's an excellent thread about it in the Strategy forums, which is as close to a must read as any in the forums.

As the Scout can move up to four spaces, it is mostly possible to hit any target up to eight spaces away from some angle. However, some of the shots can be suicidal for the Scout. Knowing exactly what is doable and what is not, what counts as a frontal / flank / rear shot and what does not, is information that for me more than once has meant the difference between a won bout and a lost one.

There is only one real trick shot to learn; a target one space to the side and four to the front can be hit even if there is a blocker in front of it - by aiming at the space behind the target.

The Scout needs to be kept alive (and preferably well). This can at times be hard. Knights can rush a Scout from up to seven spaces away - moving two turns in a row, they reach the Scout before it can act again after a shot, even if they start the first move from outside a bowshot range. Spellcasters and hostile Scouts are threats as well, and an Assassin can reach a Scout from eight spaces away. The Barrier helps keep the Scout alive, as do blockers, threats against potential attackers (such as a Lightning Ward or a friendly Enchantress near the Scout).

Golds can make the Scouts more durable by giving them Rock Golem's focus armour. Two armored Scouts are imo amongst the deadliest threats that any Gold can attack with.


6. Barrier


Good news:
The force field that a Barrier can project makes a unit proof against any attack, blockable or not. The Barrier has a range of six, the same as a Scout, which allows it to target most of your units - only those who have gone deep into enemy territory are outside its range. Unlike the Scout, the Barrier needs no Line of Sight, so it can be kept far from the frontline. When inactive, the Barrier has 100% blocking.

Bad news:
Barriers are relatively fragile, having only 32HP. The protective field is likely to be disrupted by Scouts. If the Barrier is in use, it can be attacked normally - and typically dies with only two or three hits. A protected unit is safe also from the Cleric's heal, so the very unit that would often need healing the most does not benefit from it. A unit protected by the Barrier force field can still be paralysed, even though it can't be damaged.

Conclusions:
The Barrier requires some finesse to use. When used correctly, it can be awesome. On the offense, it allows a unit to rush towards the enemy to perform an attack, and then be safe from deadly retaliation. On the defense, it can keep a vulnerable unit alive. The Barrier - Enchantress combo is notorious enough to merit its own thread in the Strategy forum. The Chanty keeps the hostile units frozen, and the Barrier protects the Enchantress until she's ready to freeze even more hostile units.


7. Enchantress

Good news:
The Enchantress is downright awesome. Unblockable, barrier-penetrating, focus-breaking, and able to totally neutralize one more units regardless of how many hit points they have. In a one-on-one fight, the Enchantress can only be defeated by one unit type (the Frost Golem).

Bad news:
Chanties take some practice to be used well. They have no blocking ability, and though they have 35 HP, they can be taken out with two arrows.

Conclusions:
This one is definitely my favorite unit. It can freeze one or more hostile units in place. If a Knight or an Assassin is sent to rescue the trapped ones, the Enchantress can freeze that unit too without releasing her earlier prey. On the other hand, the Enchantress is helpless against ranged attacks. Keeping her as the last line of defense until the ranged units have been eliminated, and then using the Enchantress to trap the remaining units makes a sensible strategy.

Enchantresses and Barriers work very well as a combo. The Barrier gives Enchantress time to recover after freezing hostiles - the very thing that the Chanty needs against melee troops.


8. The Dark Witch

Good news:
Mobile, powerful, unblockable. Often surprisingly lucky in blocking. High range.

Bad news:
Too slow to get around a friendly unit, too clumsy to shoot around it. Low HP, dismal blocking odds. Wait: 3 makes it difficult to use her safely.

Conclusions:
The Witch is excellent for finishing off wounded targets, being even more powerful than a Knight, and unblockable for good measure. The Witch can kill an unarmoured Cleric from full HP with a single shot if the opponent has not put an obstacle where she can perform the attack. As the Witch is slow and fragile she needs friendly units to keep her alive.

The Witch works very well with the Barrier - perhaps used so that the Witch moves forth, burns, is attacked, then saved by the Barrier until she's ready to either withdraw or to die in exchange of making a crucial high priority kill (e.g. a Cleric or a wounded Scout). Alternatively, the Barrier can be used to protect a unit that the Witch shoots through.


9. The Pyromancer:

Good news:
Quicker to act again than a Witch. Able to hit several targets at once. Unblockable. Nice range. Can fire over friendly units. Boosted significantly by the Dragonspeaker Mage (a Gold unit).

Bad news:
Low HP and low blocking ability, though both are better than those of the Witch. Sadly low damage potential - 15 HP, reduced to 12 by Knight armour, makes it a wasted effort to attack a wall of knights as a Cleric can undo all that damage with a single heal.

Conclusions:
Pyros are great if your opponent can't heal for some reason. 15 HP attacks on several targets do add up rather fast. Pyros can overload a hostile Cleric, making it necessary to heal. Still, it is usually sensible to heal often anyway, so creating the right circumstances can be a challenge.

There are those who really like the Pyro, and others who agree that in the right hands, a Pyro can be awesome. Others still consider a Pyro a waste of space. That concludes the set of units available to a Grey.


The formation in which those units, and the way they are used, makes the difference.

The first unit in the formation is the Cleric. While I've seen some without a Cleric on the field, more often I've seen those with two. They tend to be difficult to defeat, but slightly more vulnerable to Enchantresses as they usually have one ranged unit less. Clerics heal so much damage during a bout that it is hard to imagine a unit that could do as much damage to the opposition.

The only place where a Cleric is safe from a frontal Witchburn is the back row - with a unit at the matching position in the front row to keep the Witch from getting where she'd need to go to be able to attack. This for all practices prevents the Cleric from being killed with a single shot.

The unit far in front of the Cleric should be something that benefits from being close to the enemy lines from very early on, and is durable enough not to be forced to leave that position while the risk of the hostile Witch remains. Knights and Lightning Wards provide both benefits. A LW can get off a lucky shot from the front row, taking out an aggressive spellcaster immediately.

With the Cleric safe from witchburn, the next likely causes of death are a knight rush or scout arrows. Scouts require a line of sight, so a row of burly knights in the front makes life hard for them. Enemy Knights need a path into their target, and this can be denied by a friendly Knight who camps in the path of the enemy. Knights are awesome units, so while a decision not to use all three is possible, it needs careful consideration. Knights only take 75% of the damage done to them, and have 50 HP, so they are definitely durable. They also have strong attack and low range, which adds a reason to putting knights close to the front line.

The Barrier is a nice unit in the middle of the friendly forces. If not active, it prevents a unit from passing or hacking through. Its combo potential is excellent, and range sufficient to allow it to be used for frontline support as well.

The Scout is the best unit there is. A definite addition. However, the choice of where to put it is less clear. On one hand, it can pose a threat of arrows in the back so having it flank the enemy is a welcome prospect. On the other hand, having one's Scout killed is a major setback, so it should never be left defenseless. For starters, it should be at a place where the Barrier can, if need be, protect I.

For endgames and emergencies - the Enchantress. To be placed somewhere safe so that she will still be available when required.

The last two positions are for unit drops acquired before (e.g. a second Cleric), Pyros and/or Witches, or possibly an assassin or two. These are more durable than Clerics and Chanties, and less deadly to lose than the Scout. Semi-safe positions behind the Knights and the Lightning Ward are a possible place to put this kind of units. The high blocking ability of the assassin makes it reasonable to treat her early on simply as an extra knight. The exact choices depend on preference, style, strategy, and availability of units.


In gameplay, some rules of thumb may be called for.

When attacking with a unit, know **why** you are attacking. Forcing a unit to retreat is a valid reason to attack it. is forcing a heal but ONLY if there's a follow-up plan to make the most of the time when the hostile Cleric is gathering his strength again - that is, eliminating a unit that is currently at full HP (and thus does not benefit from the heal) before the Cleric can heal again. So is forcing the opponent to defend a unit with a Barrier. And most of all - the best reason to attack is that there's a reasonable expectation that the attack leads to an enemy casualty is a very valid reason to attack. If these conditions are not met, don't attack; move so that the conditions are easier to meet on the next turn. If your unit moves without attacking, it's waiting time is reduced to one half, rounded down.

Causing damage for the sake of causing damage is not a sufficient reason to attack - at least, it is not while the opponent can heal. The first 12 HP of damage that an unwounded unit takes are not really damage. The Cleric heals every unit, so if three instead of one unit has taken damage, this merely makes the Cleric look good. The Cleric, however, can't bring back the dead, so concentrating fire on a single unit is preferable to widely spread havoc.

Focusing on softer targets first makes sense.. if the position allows it. Ranged units are often softer targets than melee units and contraptions. They tend to recover slowly after a move or especially a move+attack, have less HP, worse blocking odds, and little if any armour. This makes pyros, scouts, and witches more inviting targets than knights and lightning wards - the latter of which mostly need not be attacked even once during the bout. When the fragile targets are out of the way, the Enchantress can freeze the knights into table ornaments so that the victory celebration can commence.

Wasting units is a loss, but exchanging kills is not. A vulnerable, badly wounded unit deep in the enemy territory is fairly cheap to lose as this eliminates the expenditure of keeping it alive (e.g. maintaining it indefinitely under a Barrier). Therefore, attacking with it so that it takes down an enemy units as it falls makes sense. You lose a unit that at the time is relatively worthless; the opponent loses something good.

Sometimes it is not possible to save a unit, but as its last action, it can ensure that the opposition also loses a unit. A tradeoff is often not a loss, especially is the rate of exchange is good.. e.g. a knight that kills the enemy Cleric at the cost of its own life (or even wounds the Cleric so that the Scout can finish the Cleric off with an arrow and live to tell the tale) is quite a bargain. Knights can take so much damage that they nicely often can drag another unit to the grave with them as they fall. Scouts, however, are easy to lose after even one careless oversight, as they vulnerable against an attack by nearly anything else.

Units by zzzzaacckk

Knight

The Knight is the tank of this game. It has great blocking abilities and should generally be used at the beginning of the game as a wall or to block key positions. He can also be used as a mage killer. In gray turtles they are used as a perimeter along with the lightning ward generally. Knights are also found during end game generally due to their high amount of amour and HP. Knights are also excellent deterrents. They can deter units from leaving the range of their barrier ward and risk being torn apart especially units with high recovery times. They are excellent scout killers along with witches. In gray rushes I recommend all 3 Knights as they will be your longest lasting unit and is excellent for killing units such as mages and Enchantresses that can really get in your way. You can move 2 in together and flank an opponent you can do extreme damage, even take out their cleric. While they are still killing off the Knights it gives you the opportunity to add to the chaos and move your scout in and start killing your opponent from 2 sides. The main weakness of Knights with gray on gray combat is the enchantress. Since the Knight is not a ranged unit one must be very careful when maneuvering a Knight near an opponent’s Enchantress. Remember that you should always have at least 1 ranged unit supporting you knights if it is at all possible.

For golds a stoned Knight is a mighty foe. They have excessive amour and are a mighty force within turtles. Knights have blockable attacks and relatively small movement range. One must take advantage of that to defend against them. The best way in turtles to defend against a Knight is the Frost Golem and the Furgon. In turtles Knights may also be used as a deterrent for people to send in their mud golems and de-stone you or as a mini rush before they are able to setup their men in the first couple of turns. In rushes the Knight is also an invaluable unit. It takes out golems well. Its only weakness is to the frost golem but as long as you have a mud golem or scout to support your Knights with you can reek havoc with relative ease. Knight rushes are surprisingly effective. Never underestimate them.


Pyromancer

The Pyromancer is a mage unit. It’s damage is unblockable and is therefore a good tool to have. The Pyromancer has low blocking (some people disagree) and HP and no armour. This makes the unit susceptible to knight, scout and other mage attacks. The main mistakes that are generally made with Pyromancers are putting them in the front row near common Lightning Ward positions and moving them within range of a lightning ward that is fully recovered. Generally this is a bad idea unless you want the lightning ward to shoot and kill your Pyro therefore giving you and advantageous position. The Pyro’s does immense amounts of damage when it attacks especially many units as it is capable of. The only problem is that the damage is spread out and is therefore easily healed. The Pyro also needs support units due to its lack of defense and high recovery time. The key to good Pyro use is to take full advantage of its ranged attack and to keep it behind a wall of units as much as possible or Barrier it. The Pyro is not a must in gray formations. It is a solid unit. The contribution of the Pyro grows immensely after the enemy cleric is dead. At that point the damage of the Pyro adds up fast and cannot be healed. All mages are also good for grays because they can be instrumental in taking out the enemy’s Lightning Ward. The lightning ward generally is the heart of your opponent if they are using a turtle setup and if you can get rid of it you have ridded your opponent of its best deterrent and at that points you can begin to penetrate their setup without the risk of being blasted for 30 damage. In my opinion the Pyro isnt a must but is very helpful to grays as long as they know what they are doing.

For golds the application of Pyros is a little bit different. They Pyro can now be used in conjunction with the DSM and Dragon to be a formidable force. I only suggest using Pyros and DSM’s in rushed and mage bombs. In a turtle situation they just don’t work so well. A mage bomb in my opinion is constituted by a 3 or more mage units in a setup other than if they are being stoned in the back row. Mage units include the DSM, Pyro and Witch.


Cleric

The Cleric is the only healer in the game. There are very few forms that do not use one. I highly suggest it. The cleric is always placed in the back row generally in a corner or in the center. It is wise to have a Lightning Ward 5 spaces in front of your cleric so that your cleric cannot be blasted by a witch and killing it. If you cant have a lightning ward then put a different piece there instead. The cleric generally should be protected at most costs. If you see that your cleric cannot be saved then don’t try and save it. I recommend an all out attack on your opponent and go for their cleric.

Same recommendation applies to golds. There isnt much to say except don’t heal unless you need to and don’t heal and move unless you are in danger of being attacked!!! There is no need to move the cleric unless it is in extreme danger of dying because otherwise you will not be able to heal for 5 full turns. The leading cleric killer now is the golem ambusher you must watch out for it. If a Golem Ambusher attacks your Cleric heal because you can be assured that the mud golem won’t be far behind. Do that and then shrub up if you can to prevent the Golem Ambusher from making the same move. Another option is to freeze the Ambusher and use shrubs to protect your Frosty. This is also another situation that the Barrier Ward is handy for.


Scout

The scout is my favorite unit in the game. It has immense range and movement. The scout fires arrows at its opponent. These arrows follow something called line of sight. I don’t want to repeat this for a third time so please follow this link to a site that explains it really well. This site was made by Nads I hope he doesn’t mind me using it. Scout's LOS Once you have learned this you can now master the scout. The next step is to use this new addition to your strategy and begin to see where you can use it. The scout is a very important piece especially when your opponent is using an enchantress. It has the largest range of all gray units. It is crucial at endgame. Make sure that it has a knight with it generally to support it and in the beginning of the game save it at almost all costs. It is in some people’s opinion more valuable than the cleric. I put it slightly below as long as you still have your Pyro/s or witch or your opponent has no Enchantress. It is excellent at picking off units at long distances and great at getting rid of mages and disrupting focus. You can never underestimate the scout. The scout is also a good cleric killer and is excellent at hitting units as they are retreating to heal.

For golds that like to turtle I strongly recommend that you stone BOTH Scouts because un-stoned scouts are very susceptible to Dragon Tyrants. In addition Scouts along with Mud Golems and Golem Ambushers are great tools for ridding your opponent of the most crucial unit in the turtle setup, the Cleric. The Scout is also an excellent tool for hitting units from behind shrubs using line of sight. The Scout also has great movement range and therefore can be retreated with relative ease. In rushes the Scout is also very useful. It can be used to flank enemies and take out Golems from long range before they can do major damage. Scouts generally are not used in mage bombs as long as you have enough mages to fill out your field. The Scout is most vulnerable to Dragons, Witches and Knights.


Assassin

The Assassin until 2 weeks ago was the most underestimated unit around. I have always used it in my setup and the new attack gives me all the more reason too. This attack is done by having only one Assassin on the field and it must be below 5 health (4 and below). You move the Assassin to its desired location for attack and then go into "attack mode." Once in attack mode hold the mouse button on the Assassin for 3 seconds and release. The Assassin should kill all the units it attacks and self-destruct. The tricky part of this operation is getting your Assassin below 5 health and being able to attack with it. My recommendation is to have a Barrier Ward in your setup to help the Assassin out if it is recovering. The Assassin is a great unit in general. It has great movement range and the ability to attack multiple units at the same time. This makes is an effective Mage or Cleric killer. Its main weakness is its low health but as long as it’s healed the Assassin should be able to penetrate the enemy and attack, recover, attack again and retreat. The Assassin is the gray surprise attack unit.

There really isnt so much of an application for the Assassin in gold setups. It could be used in a rush but the Beast Rider is basically an upgraded Assassin so there is really no point in having it. This unit is generally not used by golds but should definitely be considered by all grays because of its ability to attack multiple units and to carry out a surprise attack.


Enchantress

The Enchantress is in some people's opinion the best gray unit. It has the ability to freeze up to 12 units. The Enchantress is a terrific end game unit especially if our opponent does not have any ranged units left. A Barrier Ward along with an Enchantress is a dynamic pair. Strategies include letting your opponent come towards you. You then freeze it with your Enchantress and then before they can attack you you Barrier Ward the Enchantress. Make sure your Enchantress is near your Barrier Ward but not freezing it. A frozen Barrier Ward can do you no good. In addition an amazing Enchantress strategy site was also made by Nads. When a unit is frozen it has no blocking ability therefore freezing a unit such as a knight is advantageous because you no longer have to worry about him blocking and you can even hit him from the front worry free.

Generally golds do not use the Enchantress and instead use the Frost Golem. This is because with the Frost Golem you don’t risk freezing your own units. Generally Enchantresses are used only in gray turtles and not rushes because they are very vulnerable with their low HP and no amour. The Enchantress is very vulnerable to ranged units such as the Scout, Pyromancer, Witch, Golem Ambusher Mud Golem and Poison Wisp. When using the Enchantress keep these in mind and make sure that they cannot unfreeze you before you can protect the Enchantress by either blocking the ranged unit's path or Barriering the Enchantress. Another strategy is to freeze the ranged units and then Barrier so that they are stuck. Sometimes you won’t need to barrier because you draw non ranged units in close to your Enchantress and then you re-freeze. This is very fun but doesn’t work against experienced opponents because they won’t let you freeze their ranged units especially the Scout.


Dark Magic Witch

The Witch is the second of three Mage units. As do the other Mages the Witch has the ability to inflict major damage over multiple units. It also has low HP and blocking. The witch can be killed in one hit by both the Dragon and Lightning Ward. The Witch has more power then the Pyromancer and DSM but has less blocking and HP. For grays this is a crucial unit. It has the ability to kill the Cleric in one hit. The Witch is used most effectively with a Barrier Ward and is also adept to taking out Lightning Wards so that it can get to the Cleric. Generally Lightning Wards are placed 5 spaces in front of the Cleric so that it cannot be blasted by the Witch. The Witch is also great at killing Scouts. It has a long range attack and when coupled with a Knight, Scouts in the area are in peril. In addition an army of Witches can take out enemy turtle setups with ease. There are too many to blast with Lightning Wards and therefore they survive to attack multiple times. This kind of setup is referred to as a mage bomb. The Witch is an all around power unit that requires extreme security measures to keep it safe. Although the Witch does block what seems like a disproportionate amount of times.

Golds generally do not use the Witch in setups other than "Mage Bombs." A "Mage Bomb" is 3 or more Mage units that aren’t being stoned on the back row in one setup. This setup destroys most other setups but is generally considered frowned upon because the winner in a battle of Bombs versus each other basically comes down to who goes first. Anyone can master the art of Bombing rather easily. It is not advisable to waste turtle space with a Witch or to put it in a rush where it can be killed by a Dragon in one hit.


Barrier Ward

The Barrier Ward is a very underestimated piece. It is not an offensive piece and will not do damage to any unit. It protects any unit that it "attacks" from all attacks including unblockables. The only attacks it does not protect against are paralyzing attacks and the Poison Wisp. It is excellent for use with mage units who can attack and then be barriered. They can then recover in safety and finally attack and retreat. The only problem is that healing spells cannot penetrate the barrier so healing barriered units is useless. The Barrier Ward is most commonly found in turtle formations and is used with the enchantress due to her need to remain focused. The Barrier Ward is also a focus unit. It cannot be damaged when it is not barriering a unit by mele attacks but as soon as it barriers a unit it becomes vulnerable to all attacks. It is excellent for units who have high recovery times and low HP. This unit is a terrific tool and can reach up to 6 spaces away. This is an ideal unit for turtles.

There aren't many gold applications for this unit. It is best used in a turtle in conjunction with a Frosty. It can also be used to protect a Stonie that is open to attack. In my oppinion the furgon can do this job much more effectively and can be used for other jobs as well. The problem is that a single Dragon attack on the Barrier Ward will reduce it to only 4 health and that begins a long healing process in which the barrier cant do much because of its vulnerability to a Scout hitting it.


Lightning Ward

The Lightning Ward is an essential for all gray turtles. It is generally used as a perimeter defense tool. The lightning ward is traditionally placed in the front row 4 spaces in front of ones Cleric. This provides protection from mage attacks, generally Witches from moving forward and killing your cleric in 1 turn. Having your LW in the front row also provides a devastating first move kill against any opposing Mages that might be in the front row waiting to rush you. The best use for the LW is to use it as a deterrent and to use it only when necessary. Its long recovery time lets gives your opponent plentiful time to make an attack and retreat (especially with knights or Scouts) Another application for you LW is to use it to hit you opponents LW and with the help of mages kill it. This will leave a gaping whole in your opponent's defense which he must cover. This will give your scout more holes to shoot through.

For gold accounts the LW is still sometimes used in turtles and sometimes in anti rushes. The problem is that there are less advantages in blocking Scout LOS and mages due to the advent of the Golem Ambusher. The LW still affords some protection and is still a good deterrent against mages. If I knew I was facing a Mage Bomb I would really consider using a Lightning Ward. When attacking with the Lightning Ward just remember that it has a long recovery so make sure to attack the unit that is of the most immediate threat to you.

(Was taken from a post made by zzzzaacckk in his Strategy Guide)

Units by Bottle

Knight

Many newbs consider the knight to be the only way to way a gray game. I've lost count of the number of 900-rated-or-so grays who've taken out my knights at great cost to themselves, because they believe (as I did once) that whoever has the most knights in the endgame wins. They are wrong. The knight is not an endgame unit, except in particular circumstances, but rather a powerful weapon to throw out early in the game.

The knight has many strengths, and few weaknesses. Its main strength is for dealing with lightly armored units with a high recovery, such as the scout, pyro, witch and cleric. A common and effective tactic for knights is to move into attack range of a mage, take the hit, move in and attack, heal, then attack again and retreat. A knight will kill a cleric, pyro or witch in 2 hits regardless of healing, and since the knight recovers before the mage does, he can attack twice and then retreat to safety. This means you end up a unit up, and your knight is in a safe knight wall on about 30 HP (depending on what happened between his attacks), which can easily be healed.

The knight is also the best way to kill the scout, which if you can do without losing too much of you own stuff, will win you the game 90% of the time. A good player will keep his scout away from the knights though, so you'll need to be bold and charge in. I would gladly swop one knight or even two to get the enemy scout, so long as my chanty is still alive.

Knights are also vital in same side turt matches, where they make a solid wall from which you can spring attacks on weak spots in your opponent's formation. Just be careful of mages hidden behind the enemy knight wall, which can chip away at your knights faster than you can heal. If possible, try to use your knights to take a LW hit. Ths then renders the enemy's LW useless for 4 turns, in which time you can get your other 2 knights through a hole and close to your opponent's cleric.

Only one thing can stop a lone knight with 2 cleric backup, using the attack-heal-attack-heal technique, and that's a chanty. But we'll come to that later. Just make sure that you don't send your knights into freezing range while your scout is in recovery, because if you do, it's basically a one-shot kill if your opponent knows what he's doing.


Scout

The third most important unit in the gray game for defense, and most important for attack, is the scout. With its massive range of 10, this guy will save you life against a good player and cause havoc against a bad player.

As mentioned already, the scout has one major weakness; its susceptability to knights (and witches). Don't take your scout into range of a witch unless it's absolutely necessary, or if it will win you the game as a result (eg. to kill a chanty, or cleric if the chanty is dead already). It should be moved into a safe, but threatening position at the start of the game, and stay there. It should NOT be used to attack anything until the chanty is dead, unless you haven't got your knights in close yet. Don't leave it isolated either; a determined knight can reach it even with its long movement range. And at all costs, DO NOT MOVE IT INTO CHANTY RANGE. Remember, a chanty that just moves, waits, then moves again has a range of 8, and will freeze the scout before the scout recovers. If you have to move the scout within 8 spaces of the chanty, ensure that the chanty will then be either out of BW range or attacked by another unit before it can be barriered. This cannot be stressed enough. You get your scout frozen and the offending chanty barriered, and you can say goodbye to the game.

Now, the scouts strengths. At this point I will draw your attention to my clanmate nads' LOS site, which is found at Scout's LOS or Scout's LOS . This is the definitive site for LOS. And if you don't know LOS, you're wasting the potential of one of your best units. It is vital knowledge, not least for when you want to defend against an enemy scout. No cleric will ever be safe again once you've memorised this.

Another strength of the scout is when you don't have time for your knight to make 2 attacks on a witch. A knight/scout combo will kill a witch regardless of healing, but not a pyro. Pyros are better dealt with by the knight alone, or the scout alone. A scout takes 3 turns to kill a pyro, even when it's healed once. This is quite difficult to pull off, so I'd recommend using a knight to take pyros if you can.

Finally, don't expect the scout to block everything from the front. Look at it this way; would you expect a knight to block a side shot? No? In that case, don't expect a scout to not miss a front block. It's exactly the same chance.

In summary, the scout is very much a focus-breaker and finisher-off of weakened units in the gray game, and as such should be kept well out of the action. Keeping it in BW range is recommended if the enemy is close to you.


Cleric

One of the most targeted units in the gray and gold game, and with good reason. If you can swop anything other than your scout or chanty for the cleric, do so. If you have have enough units left to make a solid defense, and can outlast the opponent, then getting the cleric should win you the game.

The cleric is very specifically designed not to be able to heal a critically injured unit very fast. It's a fact of the game, and one you need to use to your advantage. Many flawless wins are due to a player not understanding how a cleric works. If it heals 12 points to every unit, then make sure damage taken on your units is spread around. Similarly, focus on one enemy unit at a time to prevent the enemy cleric's full effectiveness.

12 may not sound much when the biggest attack on the game is 30 and the minimum is 15, but factor in the 3 recovery (you should never move your cleric around, unless it's about to die anyway) and give yourself a cleric drop, and you can heal 24 HP every 4 turns. But don't get obsessed with healing, because that only leaves every other turn for an attack. If you're not attacking, your opponent has free rein to move and attack as he wishes.

Don't look at a 2 cleric formation and think "oh god, how can I beat this". Or rather, do. The answer is simple; still concentrate on one unit at a time. To save a mage from the knight's attack-heal-attack routine, you'd need to heal twice, and the mage will still be on less than 10 HP and the enemy's clerics both in recovery. In a game like this, your enchantress will be of even more use, because to *kill* a unit, she doesn't inflict damage. See the chanty section for help with this. Don't try and kill a knight when the enemy has 2 cleric, because it's a waste of time. The enemy will wreak havoc, retreat once the knight is on about 20 HP, and heal it back up to full health. Use a chanty instead, r better still, go on the attack and aim for the weaker units. And remember, 2 clerics means one less attacking unit, which means one less person to get in the way of you killing the chanty and cleric(s).

A turtle should always have a cleric in the corner, and often have a BW on one side of it or just in front of it. Defending the cleric is a lot easier if the BW is next to the cleric, because knights can't get through. Of course, if you're using your BW, then the knights can break through it, so be careful. And putting a BW next to a cornered unit means only one route of escape too. But with the cleric, this is of little consequence, since moving the cleric is usually a waste of time.

This section is vital. The chanty will only get involved in about 50% of your games, but of those 50%, she will singlehandedly win about 25% of them. She's just that good.


Enchantress (Chanty for short)

Since nads' chanty site section is down, I'm going to have to write the chanty tactics section out myself. It's going to be the biggest one, too. *grumble*

Now, the chanty is a mighty weapon, but has one major weakness: the scout. If she gets attacked by a melee unit when she is not recovering, she can simply freeze the offending unit, be healed, and barriered again, and you have another unit trapped. The chanty is only of any real use when you use her in conjunction with a BW, because if she gets attacked while she's still recovering, you can say goodbye to her.

When using the chanty, you have to take down the ranged units first (see the tactics section). After that, if you've got enough units left and the chanty and BW still intact, you should never lose the game. Imagine it's your cleric, BW, chanty scout and knight vs. 3 knights and assassin. The enemy has to attack you, or get picked off slowly by the scout. So you draw in one knight to freezing range, make sure that no other knight/assassin can attack you where you are moving to, and freeze the knight, being sure that you don't freeze your BW at the same time. (Freezing one of your own units doesn't matter that much; indeed, it makes opponents more likely to attack them, meaning that they can be frozen too.) When another knight charges up to attack the chanty, you barrier. 2 turn recovery left. The knight attacks the barrier, and you heal. 1 turn recovery left. The knight still has to wait, and maybe moves up another knight. You snipe the frozen knight with your scout, so the enemy is more desperate to get the chanty. 0 recovery left. The recovered knight attacks the chanty... and you refreeze. Now you have 2 knights.

The enemy, by now, will be desperate. He'll send in another knight. As soon as he gets within striking distance of your chanty, you barrier her again. (Heal if possible before barriering.) He will attack the barrier, killing it if he is using a knight. By now though, both your cleric and your chanty should be recovered. Use your cleric, and move him up next to the chanty. If the enemy attacks the cleric, you freeze the knight that does it as well, and now you have 3 knights trapped. If he attacks the chanty, the chanty freezes again. The chanty is then surrounded on all sides and unable to be attacked. You can then pick off the assassin with your scout and knight.

As you can see, a seemingly weak position (4 attackers vs. 2) has been won by the chanty.

The other main use of the chanty is against 2-cleric formations. It takes a heck of a lot to kill a knight backed up by 2 clerics. The answer? Don't play to your enemy strengths. If there's no easy way to kill the units, don't kill them. Use your chanty to freeze the knights, as shown above, and you don't need to worry about the double clerics.

Remember that a good player will know the potential of the chanty, and deal with it. Send in 2 knights and have a scout hanging around, and even the best chanty/BW formation will have serious problems. If the scout is not recovering, the chanty will be shot before she can be barriered, and then she has 3 recovery and a few angry knights next to her. Not good news. For defending against this, you'll need knights and assassins for your chanty to hide behind. But the danger then is that a witch will move up through the area where the enemy knights are, you'll be unable to send out knights to kill her without being broken through, and you'll lose your cleric. Then you're in trouble.

Surprisingly, a chanty form is best suited to attack, similar to the furgon. But that will be covered in my Tactics section.


Barrier Ward (BW for short)

The most underrated unit in the game is undoubtably the BW. It's got a lot of potential, and not just as a defensive unit.

In defense, though, it's incredibly useful. With the chanty, it can *kill* 3 knights without a problem. It can be used to barrier a precariously positioned unit and give it the chance for another attack, or for it to retreat and be healed. It can be used as part of a defensive wall of knights. Although, as stated above, even it can't save you from a witch kill on the cleric if you're playing all-out defense.

In attack, you need to be more careful. If it's positioned at the back rank, flanking the cleric, its atacking potential is limited. But if it's close to the LW, near the front but not so close as it's easily targeted by a scout, it's very useful. When the enemy has just used his LW, send up a mage and attack. Take a hit on the mage and barrier, wait until you've recovered, and attack with the mage again and retreat and heal. BWs are the only thing that can stop the old knight-kills-mage routine.

You should position your BW either on the back rank, or 2 spaces behind the LW. That way, knights can't attack it without entering LW range, scouts have difficulty getting it, and mages can't attack it without flanking or moving into LW range either. They have more attacking potential when behind the LW, but they are also easier to snipe and don't protect the cleric as well. It's up to you, but I prefer to put mine next to the cleric.


Lightning Ward (LW for short)

While we're on the subject of wards, let's talk about the often-misused LW. People always seem to use it on my knights in a same-side turtle match. Why? My knight still has 27 HP left, and your LW is useless for 4 turns. Even worse are the people who use their LW on my LW. You can go on and on about how a witch-LW-pyro combo kills a LW, but I don't care about that. You waste a few turns doing that. Meanwhile, I'll send my knights in to kill a couple of your mages. If I feel like it, I'll barrier the LW when it's on about 10 HP, so you still can't move your mages past it and you've wasted time trying to kill something that isn't going to die.

Now, how to use a LW PROPERLY. Answer: don't use it.

It's going to be a threat unit, and a wall unit. As a wall, it's immensely useful; it can block the witch from getting your cleric (but from only 1 direction, remember... a flanking witch will still get you), and it blocks knights from getting through. That's all its use will be, though, if you insist on using it on knights or other LWs. The threat is gone as soon as it's used. You may find that you zap a knight, and then get 3 or 4 mages in your face, walloping your knight wall all over the place, and you can't do anything about it. Even if you save it, you can only use it one 1 mage, but the THREAT is still there. People won't mind losing a mage in a few turns time, but for some reason, they won't send in a mage as bait for the LW and then charge with other mages. So capitalise on this, and keep your LW ready to fire.

In an opposite side turtle match, the LW often does absolutely nothing. But it still makes people go around it. It's a psychological weapon, and often nothing more. But even psychological weapons can be useful. If it makes your opponent waste a turn going around it, use that extra turn to full advantage.

Finally, don't move a mage into LW range immediately after the LW as attacked. While your mage will indeed recover first, it will only do so one turn before the LW does, so you have to move it out straight away or it'll get zapped. If your opponent has moved a knight up next to your cleric in the meantime, you often have to choose between saving your cleric and saving your mage.


Assassin

Any unit which has another attack added to it was obviously not strong enough beforehand. This is the case with the assassin. While it makes a useful flanker, it dies in 2 hits from a knight or knight/scout, and also from a LW/witch hit regardless of healing. Therefore, you need to keep it out of range of high-powered units, although with it being a melee unit this is often very hard. And similar to the knight, it gets stopped dead by the chanty too.

The new attack, dubbed the "ass bomb", is interesting but often not used. Again, it's a potential threat. People will waste time killing the assassin, being careful not to reduce it to 5 or less HP. You have to use that time wisely. Once someone has been got by the ass bomb once, they won't let it happen again. So the only advantage it has is to make your opponent worry.

I use my assassin as a wall unit. Its superior blocking make it useful for this, and also handy for breaking focus when my scout isn't able to. That's about all it does. With 18 power, little HP, and the need to be close to attack, it's too easily killed and not strong enough for my liking. It's the first unit to take out when you get a cleric, chanty or witch drop, after the pyros.


Dark Magic Witch (DMW or witch for short)

This is a difficult unit to use well. It has so little blocking and HP that 2 hits from virtually anything will kill it even with healing, and 3 most certainly will. So you need to protect it.

This is best achieved with a BW, using the technique described above. If you take a hit but aren't threatened by anything immediately after attacking, heal and THEN barrier. This will give you more HP to play with after you de-barrier and retreat.

The witch, in the opposite corner turtle game, is either a flanking unit (if your opponent is defending) or as a unit for dealing with anything that gets through your defenses (if your opponent attacks). It's very, very useful for taking on attacking, unsupported scouts; take a hit, attack back, heal and barrier, and the enemy scout is on 18 (or 30 if they heal), your witch is on 22 and safe, and the enemy scout then has to retreat. It's also good for finishing off any knights that have got through your defensive wall, and preventing that cleric kill. And if you can do it, your opponent will too, so when you're attacking a defensive form, try and take out the witches if you can. This will stop your knights from being killed before they can get the cleric/chanty.

In a same side turtle game, the witch is far more useful. A LW/witch combo kills anything gray and mobile in the game except for the knight (which is left on 9). It also virtually kills a scout, even if the scout is healed. A common tactic is to barrier your injured knights, and use you witch to attack through the barriered knight to get to the enemy knights, without exposing your witch. You can also attack through your own full health knights (so long as there's nothing else threatening them) to kill any weakened units, and then heal later. And of course, if your opponent uses his LW, you can move up, do the BW trick, and just leave the witch there. It's a constant threat that way. Threats are everything in this game; they stop your opponent doing what he wants, and that gives you a chance to do what you want instead.

Witches are also good in rushes, but since I don't use a rush, I won't go into that.


Pyromancers (pyro for short)

I don't like pyromancers. I'll get that straight right now. I think they're underpowered, easily killed, and their attack pattern doesn't get used enough.


The Strategy

Firstly, don't stray too close to knights with them. Two knights hits kills a pyro even if healed once. A common mistake for newbs is to burn a knight first turn. I simply move up my knight and attack, he heals, I heal (negating the damage I took), he maybe takes a swing at my knight, I attack his pyro again and retreat back into my knight wall. Result: 17 damage (maybe) on my knight, 2 turn recovery on my cleric (both of which are irrelevant unless there are more pyros and witches around, because my knight wall is pretty solid), and I'm only facing 9 units.

Secondly, you can't put them near the front line and not expect them to come under heavy scout fire. Anyone who knows scout line of sight will just shoot straight through your knight wall and hit the pyro, and again, 3 hits kills a pyro even with one heal.

Thirdly, many people think "Oh, that LW is in recovery, I can move my pyros past it." You can't. Pyros have 3 recovery, LWs have 4, so ONLY if the LW has ONLY JUST acted can you move past it and attack. Otherwise, your pyro will still have recovery when the LW is ready for another shot. And even if you do move the pyro past it straight after the LW blast, there's always the chance that a good player will then move up a knight or scout to attack an undefended piece like the cleric, so you have to spend time protecting it... and if you don't move the pyro as soon as it has recovered, it will die from the LW shot... so you may end up having to choose to lose your cleric or pyro.

The main strengths of the pyro are that they can finish off very weak units without fear of blocking, and their long attack range (7 spaces). This makes them the only focus breakers you have, other than your scout. If the enemy is using a chanty, they will be useful if kept back and saved for the endgame, especially if your scout has been killed. As abyaly said, you can use them to force an opponent to heal and waste his cleric, but always consider the fact that a good player may well think that a knight on 39 health will still be able to take several hits before dying, and choose to go for the pyro instead of healing. The best way to force the opponent to heal is to do damage to weaker units like the scout, assassin, mages and enchantress, because they will die in 1 or 2 more hits unless healed immediately.

As you can see, I've already made most of these points here, but that should reinforce them.

Right, now that I've covered the individual units, I'm going to expand on the strategies I've hinted at so far.

I'm not going to cover rush gray matches, because those commonly depend on opening position and who gets first turn anyway. A good turtler, however, will beat a good rusher (in the gray game) 80% of the time.

Before I get going, I'll give my definition of a gray turtle. It is this: A turtle is a formation which has a solid defensive wall, with the ability to break out and attack. It is usually clustered in one corner or (occasionally) in the centre. Therefore, a same side turtle match will commonly have two knight walls facing each other, maybe a few mages behind it, and a LW in the middle of the wall, and a cleric or two at the back. An opposite corner turtle match will have two formations a long way away from each other.


Turtle Matches

I said earlier that scouts will shoot a chanty before she can be barriered. This is not always true, and this is why you should not actually use your scout until the chanty is dead. If you move or attack with your scout while the chanty is still alive, and your knights are nearby, then the chanty will freeze the knights and barrier before the scout has a chance to recover and break the focus. In other words, the scout may as well not have been there. You can use this to your advantage too, if you are ever in the position of being attacked by knights; offer a unit as scout bait, get your opponent to use the scout, and then freeze and barrier. Don't go after a unit unless you think you're 99% sure you're going to kill it. There's no point in reducing a knight to 1 HP while it devastates your formation, only for it to retreat into a knight wall and be healed back to full health 16 turns later, while you take potshots at it's front hoping for a lucky hit. Similarly, if you can do this to an opponent, it's a good way of annoying them. Try and think about what your opponent is planning. This is not necessary against a bad player, who often has no idea what they're doing anyway, but against a good player look at the game from his perspective. See what you would do in his position (which is often what he's about to do), and move accordingly. If you can stop him making the move he wants to, that's always useful; it throws out his battle plans and makes him think higher of you. If he thinks he can't beat you in attack because you block his moves, he will defend. Then you can attack him where you choose, rather than where he chooses. A master of LOS rules will not only use them in attack, but also block them in defense. Without a furgon, this can be difficult, but when using a chanty it's often helpful to stay on the back rank with a unit just in front of you, as this blocks off the *aim for the square behind* LOS shot. This is far more pertinent in a gold game, but it's useful in the gray game too, if you can pull it off. And be sure to block all LOS shots to the cleric if you can. Putting him in the corner helps this a lot. As stated above, don't play to your opponent's strengths. If he has 2 clerics, you're not going to be able to beat him in a straight battle. You either have to kill the clerics (recommended, but not always possible, despite there being 1 less attacker to defend them) or freeze the tough units (knights) and pick off the weak ones (scout, mages, chanty) before they can be healed.


Opposite side turtle matches.

You'll find many variations on turtle formations. Some players who haven't tried the chanty before will use 2 pyros instead of the chanty/BW, or even a witch drop or two if they have one. Some will have a second cleric instead of the chanty. Some will have the chanty, and no pyros. Whichever formation you are facing, your tactics should always be the same; attack.

Look at it this way. Would you rather be worrying about how to guard your cleric the whole time, or making your opponent worry about how to guard his cleric the whole time? That's what I say to people who say, "ah, well grays don't have enough firepower to attack". grays do have firepower, and they are called knights. People just don't seem to be willing to risk them.

So many formations that you play will defend against you. That's fine; it allows you to strike where you want. And the place to strike is the enemy's weakest point, which is commonly the flank. There's no LW there, and usually no knights at the start. So move your 2 knights from your knight wall up, and put your scout in the corner opposite your opponent on your opponent's side of the field; well away from any attackers, but with the ability to move in and attack any space in the opponent's corner of the board. The threat is what matters. Leave the scout there, and move in with the knights.

Bad opponents will leave holes in the defensive line, thinking that if your knight comes through the hole, he'll be killed/frozen. Call their bluff and march through with both knights at once. Aim to kill any chanties first, since they die in 3 hits from knights even with 2 healings (the last hit can be made with the scout), and that then frees up your scout. Use the scout and the knights that are left to reach the enemy cleric. (Even if the cleric is barriered, you have a scout to break the barrier's focus.) You should be able to kill the chanty and the cleric before you lose both knights. When you have achieved this, retreat your scout and any surviving knights, and heal up.

Your opponent will be shellshocked (hopefully) by this. Now is the time to strike with your other knight, assassin, and witch. Take out the enemy scout (now that the cleric is dead, it only takes 2 hits from knight/witch, and retreating the scout into the knight wall will only delay its death). You should now be left with 3 knights, an assassin, and mages (which can be sniped by your scout) to deal with. Roll on the chanty, as mentioned above.

If your opponent doesn't use a chanty, even better. This gives you pretty much free rein to use your scout as well as your knights right from the off. Go for the mages first, as they will be the main problems to your knights, being unblockable. Then go for the cleric. You'll then be in the same position as above, and you'll most likely still have one of your attacking 2 knights left.

You may find a good opponent will move knights across to cover the flank when you attack with your knights. This is where the assassin comes in handy, as a flanker. Move her over to the other flank, that the enemy knights have just vacated (near the LW), and move past the LW without entering it's range using her superior movement. The enemy will send over a knight to kill the assassin or face losing their cleric, and you get in through the hole left by the knight with your own knights, as above. If the enemy uses mages to kill the assassin, it might be a good idea to send a knight over there too. Remember, knights beat mages once they get stuck in, because they can take a good few hits before dying. Moreover, the enemy mages will get no support from their own knights, who are holding the flank.

So in summary, to beat an opposite corner turtle, attack the flank with knights and have a scout as support, and get the cleric. Kill the scout and mages, and mop up the melee units with your chanty when they attack you.

On the other hand, you might be playing someone as good as you, who has also read this strategy guide and wants to attack you as much as you want to attack him. In this sort of game, whoever gets in amongst the opponent first will win, there not being enough defenders to stop them. (If you decide to defend, what I've said above will happen, only it'll happen to YOU.) So you need to get your knights in there quicker than they get theirs in.

Sometimes, a good way to do this is to attack one of the knights before they get into position. Using your witch on one knight and then barriering it, then maybe taking a side shot with your scout as you move it up will reduce a knight to 18 HP, enough for the witch to finish it off. (If the enemy heals this damage, they're wasting time which you can use to attack yourself or to deal more damage to that knight. Concentrate on one unit at a time, remember?) This may make that knight retreat, and the second that it has to retreat, he has lost. He will have his scout and one knight stranded, another knight injured and pulled back, and your knights and scout ready to charge his flank which has 1 knight left to defend it.

This is the best thing to do if you have second turn. If the enemy has first turn, they will usually get to you before you get to them. If you get first turn, you should be able to do likewise, although it is possible that the enemy may go for broke and kill your cleric while you're killing his. Then it's a free-for-all, which can't be helped by any tactical talk from me, but improvised as you go along.

(Units was taken from a post made by Bottle in his Strategy Guide or TAO School)

Units by M_A_D

Golem Ambusher

The Golem Ambusher is like a Scout but lacks the range, blocking and movement of the Scout. What it does have is No-Line of Sight, as in it hurls his boulders up and over other units. When used in a Rush or range attack setup the Golem Ambusher is great. Its range when used with other units is very deadly. The major weakness is his lack of blocking and targeting of only the 4th and 5th tiles. If you where to get in under the 4th and 5th tile you can sit there and he can not attack you. You can not worry about him being killed, in most cases this happens. You have to use him to do the damage that you need. He is used as a Cleric Killer!!! If you can protect him and keep him alive then great. (More to come)


Berserker

Berserkers are misunderstood. They are like a weak Knight, but with they have the ability to stun its target for one turn or add a one turn recovery to that unit. With this in mind he is and will always be a defensive unit. He is best used in the back line to protect other units. With his ability to stun and do damage could make the different in any game. His draw backs are that he should be used in a dual Cleric setup or Stone Golem setup. This will help keep him alive to protect other units. He is difficult to master. (More to come)


Beast Rider

Beast Rider are one of the beast units you could use. They have good blocking, high range of movement, low recovery time and an attack of two tiles at a time. When use correctly they can be deadly to any setup. They can move in and out of an opponents setups and back with out dying. Although they do have low armor and some what of a low blocking there high range of movement and low recovery time can get them out of a lot of trouble. To optimize there abilities you should use then with dual Clerics or a Stone Golem. This will make them seem invincible. A set of Beast Riders with an Stone Golem or Dual Clerics can give anyone a run for their money. (More to come)


Poison Wisp

Poison Wisps are the disembodied spirits of ancient forest critters. Their existence has been shrouded in mystery for eternity, as they vanish as quickly as they appear. Well Seed got that one right. The Poison Wisp has a very high range of movement and can poison any units within 8 tiles in a cross shaped area. In doing this the units can not attack until after they more away or the focus spell is broken. An Poison Wisp can buy you the time to kill an unit or weaken many units so that you can kill them easily. Immune to ground attacks such as the mud-quake makes it hard to stop them at times. The Wisp’s greatest weakness is his lack of blocking and high recovery time. They are difficult to master. (More to come)


Furgons

Furgons are defensive unit only. They are very good in buying you time and keeping your opponents away from you. The summoning of Shrubs can help just as much as it can hurt you. They are very difficult to master and if you use them wrongly your opponent can and will use they to beat you. Some of the things that people do wrong is box themselfs in with their own Furgon and not allow a way out as well as in. Furgons are best used in a dual Frost Golem setup or with a Poison Wisp and Frost Golem. The Frost Golems hide behind the shrubs waiting for the opponent and the Wisp hides inside the shrubs waiting. In both cases the shrubs are used to protect other units but at the same time you need to use a range attack to kill any unit that your Forest or Wisp has.

The Furgon’s Enraged Attack can be used to stop an opponent even if you have no Frost or Wisp. The wrath of the Furgon is incurred when it witnesses an ally fall in battle, awakening its dormant powers to encage all enemies in wild growth. The Furgon must be enraged and surrounded by Shrubs on all 4 sides to activate this ability. This allows the Furgon to surrounded the opponent in Shrubs no matter where they may be at. (More to come)


Dragon

The Dragon is one of the most used units in the game. His high damage attack and range of movement and attack makes him a force to deal with. He can kill an Witch and Cleric with one shot and when used with a Dragon Speaking Mage is very deadly. Now do not get me wrong the Dragon is not all powerful. The Dragon has low blocking and if not used correctly can be killed very easily. (More to come)

Strategies Guide by M_A_D

Ideas for Setups 

The first thing you have to do is look at all the units you have to work with. Do you have:
 “Power” ( Dark Witches like 4 or 5, Pyros 3 or 4, DSM, Dragon),
“Movement” (Beast Riders, Scouts, Assassin, Mud Golem)
 “Armor” ( Stone Golem, Knights)
 “Freezing Power” (Duel Frost Golems, 3 or 4 Enchantress)
“Defenses Units” (Barrier Ward, Furgon, Lightning Ward)
 or are you just working with the Basic units?? In any case you have to understand the weakness and strengths of each piece.

Each setup should take in account for:
1) Damage evasion a.k.a. retreat strategies and Protection.
2) Defensive pockets or "The Turtle" witch can be used for defense and offense. (Grays can Turtle but mostly it is a Double Golds with the Stone Golem.)
3) Attacks, whether it is a “Rush”, “Range Attack”or just a slow setup to attack (Flanking).

Each of the above can and will kill any setup whether you use them or your opponent uses them. Your setup should try to defend off any attack plus make its own attack. In any case each setup has its weakness and strengths. Learn them and you will learn how to defeat most any in battle.

Key Ideas to Learn

A) Movement

The Slow Setup a.k.a. Flanking: by [S|G] 

You will have to learn how to move!! No not how each unit moves but move and not attack with a unit!! If you can move a piece in and not be in danger then do it. Move as many as you can before you attack. This will setup you’re over all attack plan. A flanking setup uses units with great range in movement that are able to make quick incursions deep inside enemy lines and then return.

Recommended Units: Beast Riders, Scouts, Mud Golem (no more than 1), Knights, Dragon.

Strategies: The key when using this setup is exploring the high movement rate of your units to the maximum. I would advise any non-double not to use this kind of setup, as its units are somewhat fragile without the aid of the Stone Golem. After armoring your weaker units (Mud Golems, Beast Riders, Scouts) try to send them forward in such a way that there form an arch around your opponent, surrounding him. Remember to place them in a way that one unit give cover to the other, particularly against frost golems. If you do it the right way, this setup will be particularly strong against 2 scout sets, and also very good against most turtles, both magic and non-magic ones. Advance slowly keeping units covered and pressing your opponent into defending. If he tries to break your line with any unit, pound it hard, and possibly retreat a bit, but never much. Any units trying to break through should be at least into range of 3 of your units. Keep your health high at all times and occasionally poke an enemy unit using a beast rider to lure him out of the turtle, then fall back and keep attacking that unit with your other troops. Bringing the frost golem along might be a good idea, keep him behind a knight. Also, if possible, make a run with a beast rider or the mud golem when the opponent has his units spread and go for the stone golem and cleric, then return again. If you get the stone golem, press forward hard and take any scouts and frost golems you can get. Usually doing this successfully means that you won the fight.   (**Thanks [S|G] for the added Flanking information.**)

The Rush: 

Rushing is a commitment that you can not turn back from. When rushing you have to keep hitting your opponent and never stop. Bring all your units in. Whether it is slow at first for the setup or fast you must bring “All your Units in”. Rushes works better with power but will work with basic units. “I have beaten Duel Scout / Stone setups with a well thought out Basic unit Rush.” The unblockable attack is the best Rush.

Unit Movement: 

A setup that has a lot of movement in it is very hard to stop. Three Knights, Scout, Mud Golem and Beast Riders will give you many options in your strategies. You can reach the other side of the arena in as little as 2 moves.

B) Damage evasion 

BW Protection: 

You may want to use your BW to protect a unit on the way in (Damage evasion). The placement of the BW can help you a great deal. If it can reach down the arena then you can sit there and wait for the opening. Knowing when to move a unit in or back out of danger will also help. Try not to take on a lot of damage unless you can make that kill you need. Some times you can setup a pocket inside on your opponent. The Stone Golem is an Damage evasion unit.

Retreat Strategies: 

Any setup will at one point need to Retreat. In this you will have to know when to attack and when not to. You just need to run away and not attack.

Defenses Pockets:

A Knight wall with LW can provide protection for all. Knights and LW are hard to kill and you can hide behind them.  

Freezing Protection: 

The Frost Golem can protect you for damage as well as an Enchantress. If you freeze a unit then protect the Frost Golem or Enchantress with an BW you will be throwing a Very Big Monkey Wrench in any ones Strategies

Furgon Protection:

A furgon can give you the time you need to kill your opponent. With a well thought out placement a Furgon can be your best friend.

Split your opponents attention up: 

Duel attacks is also a key to Damage evasion. Attack in two areas at one time. If you get a unit in danger then start your attack on a weaker unit to draw them away from your damaged unit. This may stop their attack and they may runaway thus giving you time to heal or run yourself.

Damage Evasion By Quicksandslowly

I play my game from this standpoint: Damage evasion is better than dealing damage in many cases. If you have a unit that is about to be overcome by enemy forces, attack and retreat or just retreat if attacking would be foolish. Then the enemy will have to follow you in, and you will possibly kill his attacking unit. Damage evasion is also killing units that can do the most damage to you, like Witches, Dsm's/Pyros, and units that are in a position to deal deathblows once they recover. This concept works very well for all you Furgon people. The point here is to avoid damage until you can heal it all back. Shrubbery protection is excellent to this effect. If your enemy has to chop through shrubs to get at one of your units, then they can't hurt your damaged unit. You now have time to heal and retreat the unit further out of the ranged units attack influence. The Furgon/retreat strategy also forces your enemy to either pursue, or spread their damage around. If they elect to attack something else, they merely make your healing more effective.

Damage evasion also means moving your units out of vulnerable places before they can take a hit. If your Scout is next to a Witch at the beginning of the game, don't leave him there. He's going to get nuked. This is also why Barrier wards + Mages or Scouts are very effective. You can prevent damage by killing units that are likely to hurt you the most. Suicidal Witches, Dsm powered Pyros, and Dragons. Situation: Mage Bomb with two Pyros in front of your L Ward and the Dsm in the back. One Pyro is directly in front of your ward, and the other is to the side of it. The one on the side could pentrate deep into your formation, and kill your Cleric. The one in front of your Ward is limited in movement and striking capability because of your L Ward. Which one do you kill? Obviously the one that could get at your Cleric. By doing this you remove your opponent's ability to hurt you most.

I love to prevent damage by freezing. Always make sure that if you're going to freeze something, your focus won't be broken next turn. If that is the case, don't do it at all and try to eliminate one of the sources of possible damage instead. If you freeze it and your enemy can un-freeze it easily, all you've done is given your enemy a free shot at your Frosty.

Try not to move your units into compromising positions either. Unless you have two Clerics and/or a Stone Golem supporting you, you won't be able to win in such a situation. I've seen many players run their stoned Scout right up to an L Ward and a Dragon so they can take out their opponent's armor. These people think that he's got enough hp to take a Lightning Bolt, Fireball, and possible Scout or Knight hits. Newsflash, unless sacrificing that Scout is really worth it, don't send him in. Your enemy can always retreat and stone up again, whereas your Scout is now gone forever. This goes for Beast Riders and Mud Golems too. Charging in with your Golem right at the beginning of the game doesn't work unless you've got units in good position to capitalize on the situation. Stoned Muds will die eventually, especially if there's a Frosty right there holding them down.

Preventing damage by making "pockets" within your formation for damaged units to retreat into is also very smart. If your enemy doesn't have range, then they have to kill one of your outside units first, again, spreading damage around and making your healing more effective. By pockets, I mean a cross shaped grouping of units, without a unit in the center. Since your piece is able to move through these four other units at will, you can hide him in there where your enemy won't be able to get him. If he attackes one of the units on the perimiter of the pocket, heal and you've just done twice as much healing as you would have before. The unit attacking your pocket will probably be swarmed by your five or so guys if he persists in trying to crack the proverbial safe that you've hidden your damaged unit in.

C) Attacks 

Unblockable:

Unblockable attack are sure things. Take them over any other attack if you can.

Blockable Attacks:

Any attack that can be blocked is in danger of being stopped. Attack from sides and the back when ever you can. At times you will have to go for that “luck shot” like a front shot by the scout on a Knight. The front shot by a Knight to a Knight and so on.

Blocking Tips:

The knight is the most powerful blocker. In base status it can't front block after he side blocks 2 times. Watch out, i said it can't FRONT block.

Scout can't front block after he side blocks in base status. Remember that he can side block again, just can't front block.

Base status Pyro can't front block nor side block after side blocking.

Other base status are there and maybe you can work them out.
**(Blocking Tips are based on the way the current blocking works and can change at any time.)

Range Attacks:

The Scout is very deadly. He can hit you from 6 tiles away and shot by other units. If you do anything learn all of his shots. If you do not move him he can attack you on every other turn. Duel Scouts are deadly but can be beaten. The Scout does not have a back like most units. If you look at the way he stands on the arena you will see that he stands looking at a corner of the tile. Here is a percent chance of hiting a Scout chart (Scout Blocking Percent).

The Witch and Pyro both have good range attacks. There recovery time is long and you may die in between an attack with them.

The Mud Golem earthquake and punch can be the key to a win against a Stone Golem, Frost, Enchantress and Furgon. His does damage with in 3 tiles of himself (15, 10, 5) in that order. The first thing to remember is that its NOT a melee combat unit. Don't send it foward by itself, as it is likely to become an easy target. Also, as they do not block, they are not good defensive units, even if they are armored by a stone golem, so do not rely on them for defense. A good way to move your golem in and make it survive is to:

1: Move in (DON’T ATTACK)
2: Attack and move out.

**Thanks [S|G] for the added information.** 

The Frost Golem range attack must be included here also. His frost power can be felt from 4 tiles away. Like the Mud the frost does not block and he also does not do damage to other units.

The LW Range should be used wisely. Any unit with in its range with 30 hit points or less should be killed.

The Beast Rider two Attack range can be deadly on the inside of any setup. With his Movement and Two Attack range he can get across the arena and behind units and kill them. Here is a percent chance of hiting a Beast Rider chart (Beast Rider Blocking Percent).

Combo Attacks: 

Know your one shot kills but the 2 shot kills work just as well. Any unit coming in on you will have a way of being killed. The Combo Attacks that are unblockable are the best defense.

(Non Stoned, If Stoned add at less one extra attack to kill the unit.)

One Shot Kills:
Dragon to Cleric
Witch to Cleric
LW to Cleric
LW to Pyro
Lw to Witch 

Two Shot Kills:
Dragon & (LW or Scout or Mud or Knight or Witch or Pyro) to Scout
Dragon & LW to Knight
Dragon & (LW or Scout or Mud or Knight or Witch or Pyro) to Assassin 
Any 2 to Witch
Any 2 to Pyro 
* I did not look at all 2 shot combos.

Three Shot Kills:
LW & Witch & Pyro to Knight
*I did not look at all 3 shot combos.

Power Attacks (a.k.a. Bombing):

The power attack can be seen when you get to the arena and see 4 to 5 Witches with a Dragon and some Pyros.

The DSM with 2 to 3 Pyros, Dragon and Witches. A basic setup with 4 to 6 Witches and Knights. Mostly you rush with this setup. I have seen the Slow Setup used here as well as the Retreat Strategy. Power attacks are hard to beat if done right. You can bring any “Double Gold” down to the wire with this strategy.

Picking on one unit:

It is hard to protect a unit if you keep on attacking it. It is hard to heal that unit also. Ever with 2 Clerics they can not heal all day long. The best units to kill first off are frosts, muds, clerics, witches, pyros and scouts.

 

D) Back Up Units

Here I will just give you an example of how to setup with movement to back up your units.

Going back to Movement move your Knight in if he is not in danger in the move. Try to bring him inside your opponents setup. A Knight inside can hurt your opponent badly. You may want to use a BW after the move before the next move. Use the Scout to backup that Knight with his Range attack. Move him in also but just out side the range of others. (He can attack on every other turn if you do not move him so make him attack on the turn the knight can not.) If you have a Mud move him in also but just outside your opponents range.(2nd backup, Make sure this backup is on the side opposite the Scout.) Make sure you backup the Scout & Mud with other Knights, Witches and Pyro. The movement of the Scout and Mud may give you time to setup the Knight inside. If you get inside and start doing damage you will need to turn your opponents attention to the outside attack. Attack with the Scout and Mud from the outside in. You can bring the Mud inside also. Attack any and all units that attack the inside unit. Make your opponent take a lot of damage here. If you take a lot of damage then attack and run. The inside unit should do the same if his life gets low but try to kill the Cleric and do a lot of damage. This will split his attack on the your inside man and the outside ones. Make sure you heal on every 3^rd turn. The idea is to attack from the inside and outside making it hard for him to know what to do. The “Backing Up” of other units will stop him from coming out to attack you if you are setup right. The idea here is to setup a pocket (Damage evasion or Damage Protection).

E) How to Play a Game (by: Soudeus )

This game is a lot like chess, and I love chess. Like chess, the beginning game (in chess players break a whole match into three parts: beginning, middle, and end game) is the most important. This is when you make your opening moves and get position on the board. Position is everything. If your opponent has more control over the board than you, then he has an advantage.

When I play another turtles I usually try to get my pieces over to surround him fast so I get the upper hand. Usually ill move my dragon out first, then mud spaced a little to make a sort of arc, then the scout. From this position you have a multitude of possible attacks and such. I have two clerics backing me up also so I can rush in there and take a few hits for the team to get into nice position to do some heavy damage such as a mud golem in the middle of a turtles setup. THAT can cause the other player some major grief.

Once you are in the thicket of the enemies turtle you want to kill specific units. Don’t go trying to kill his dragon or anything like that you will waste valuable time. You want to kill the weakest unit first. If you have ever played any kind of real time strategy game like starcraft, warcraft, etc. then you know that. The best units to kill first off are scouts, frosts, muds, and clerics. Witches and pyros are also good but all depends on what your opponent does, position, etc.

Try not to lose your scout. I consider the scout my most valuable piece. If you know all the trick shots and variations of them then you can do some serious damage. The scout is very important for the whole game, and COULD mean the difference between a win and a loss.
 

F) Two Clerics  

With the two Cleric setup I have found that you may need to take at least one of the two out to win. Two Clerics is like having a Stone Golem in the setup. A rush attack works better with two Clerics to heal you or a Range Attack. If they protect their Cleric well you may lose every unit you send in to kill them unless you back them up right. I have also seen a Two Cleric Stone Setup. For a gray this may be their worst nightmare.

G) Rating 

Your rating can go up or down pending on who you play. Playing a very high rated person can help you out a lot. You will not lose that much but they can. The pressure is on them to win. So plane out who you may want to play. Is it grays or Golds?? If you stay with grays at first to get to a good rating of 1200 to 1300. Once you are there and you go “Gold”. You will find that if you stick with just other Golds you will gain more ratings and your setup will work for all other “Gold” setups. Most high rated Golds will only play other Golds. If they were to play grays they would lose to many points do to the “Rush Setup” most grays use.         

Now that you have the basic idea we need to look at who you are going to fight and how to fight them. With that said I will explain some basic setups of the following and how they can work in beating each other.

 

Basic Setup

Ok, lets look at the Basic Pocket Setup. This is the units you get when you first start. A Defenses pockets that you can Rush from is my choice for best setup here. This setup is like a Double Golds but with basic units. You will setup to one side. Use LW (Lightning Ward), 3 Knights, Witch, Pyro, Scout, Barrier Ward, Enchantress and Cleric. The LW is always four tiles out in front of the Cleric. The BW is for defense and may be setup in back, to be hard to reach or in the middle to one side or the other to reach down the arena. Knights are hard to kill and are your bread and butter. Make a Knight wall to each side of the LW. Two to the outside and one on the inside. The BW may be used to make this wall also. Now you have a Defenses Pocket to work from. The Witch and Pyro are in back of the LW and Knights in the pocket. The Enchantress is in range of the BW but in the back to stop any inside attack.

A better Basic Pocket Setup with Drops. This setup is the same as above but you put in a Mud or Beast Rider or both. This adds movement to you setup.

A Plan Rush Setup is done with any units all coming in at the same time. Again a Front line setup. Bring them all baby!!!!

A Power Pocket Setup is also good. With the right drops you setup a Pocket Setup but put all your Power behind the Knight wall.

Pic here

 

If you have the drops you should look into using a Power Rush Setup. This will put all units out in front on the front line. This is so you can hit your opponent hard and fast not giving him time to move. If you rush in with 4 or 5 Witches, 2 or 3 Pyros, Scout, Mud Golem, Knight and Cleric. Some go all out and do not use a Cleric at all. Being hit on every turn is hard to take. The damage is great and most will just freak.

Pic Here

 

A Movement Rush Setup is fast moving. Use all Knights, 1 to 3 Beast Riders, Scout, Mud, Witches for power (keep them in the back but moving up slowly), BW and Cleric. If you run across the arena and start an inside attack and then hit them with power they may just freak again.

Pic Here

Beating a Double Gold with Basic Units:

“How do you beat a Double Gold?” Well to beat a Double Gold you have to understand the Golds setup. Every Double Gold will setup in an corner. This is for defense of the Stone Golem and Cleric. So what is the best setup to defeat a Double Gold a “Double Gold”!! Why? Because, it will be up to luck of witch side of the arena you are on ves your opponent and if you got the drops to do the job. With that said here we go.

 This will be hard to do plus you must Not make any Errors in the attack and have some “Luck”. First of all, your setup should be on the same side of the arena as the Double Golds is. Right in his face!! (This is the luck part.) Second, you should start first to have better odds. (Luck part 2.) Third, if you have the drops go for the Power of the Witch. Back her up with the Pyro, Mud, Beast Rider and Scout. The Knight is there for the inside attack. Use him to put up a wall if you can and to get inside. Use the Witch and Pyro to hit the Double Gold hard. Try to kill the Cleric. Protection is done with the BW. Use the movement of the Scout, Beast Rider and Mud Golem to “Break” the stone and “Frost” Golem.

The key is to:
1) Hit them hard with the rush and give then “No Time” to move or setup.
2) Break the Stone and Kill the Cleric Fast.
3) Break any Frost hold on you and give out damage at the same time(Mud Golem, Scout, Pyro, Witch, Beast Rider)
4) Heal as much as you can but do not pass up a kill on a attack.
5) Once you have the Cleric dead, retreat and heal, attack as you retreat. If you have killed the Cleric in this rush then they should be left them with damage to a lot of their units and weak.
6) Try to target any one unit now. Pick on a unit and take it out.
7) The Double Gold setups with LW are harder to Rush. With this you have to come from both sides and try to take out the LW in front.
8) If you have the power you may want to take out the LW first then go inside for the rush.

If you have the drops you should try a Front line center arena Knight Wall with 4 to 5 Witches behind them. This should put you the same distance from the Gold no matter what side they are on. If they underestimate the power of the Witches then they are dead. Add a Mud Golem if you got him.

 

Single Gold Setups

The Single Gold Setup will look like a Basic Setup but with add features.

The Single Gold Pocket Setup is like this. LW (Cleric is 4 behind LW) with the Knight Wall to each side of the LW. Dragon and Mud Golem behind the Wall. The Frost is in the back 2 to the side of the Cleric. Scout to the outside side but back some. Ths last piece is a BW, Witch or Pyro. The BW is for protection and the Witch and Pyro are for add power.

Pic Here

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The Single Gold Rush Setup is a front line setup. All units are on the front Dragon in the middle. Knight to each side. Scout and Beast Rider on opposite sides next to the Knights. Add some more Beast Riders on each end. The Mud Golem is right behind the Dragon. If you have a Cleric he is in back behind the Dragon if not a add Scout or other unit is used. (Note: You may have duel Scouts in this setup one on each side and have a Cleric.)

The Movement Setup is a rush from a Pocket Setup. Any pocket setup that have a lot of movement in it. Scout, Mud Golem, 2 to 3 Beast Riders. Frost and Cleric in the back. Dragon behind the LW Knight wall.

Pic Here

The Furgon Setup is a defenses setup that stalls for time. Most likely the Furgon is out in front ready to setup those bushes from the start. He has a one turn recovery so he can put them up faster then you can take them down. He is used with the Duel Frosts.

Pic Here

Double Gold Setups

The Old Stone Setup is the basic Double Gold setup. This is any setup in the corner with a Stone, LW, Dragon, Scout and Cleric. Adding Movement is a key to a better setup. A Mud Golem and Beast Riders will give you that. Some will pull out the LW and add one more Knight.

The Kill Cleric Setup can work well if you get the first move or they have no LW. This is a Mage Bomb type. The dragon and DSM are in the back with the Scout and Mud Golem in a Stone setup. A pyro to each end in the front Cleric is in the back.

Pic Here

The Mage Bomb Rush is a good one also. Any setup with a front line setup with all Pyros. The Scout / Scouts and or Beast Riders will be on each end for movement. Dragon and Dragon Speaking Mage Will be in the back with the Cleric. (Note: Cleric may not be use.) 

General Thinkings by Apt142 & Hyperlink

General thinkings on different approaches to winning matches. I had two thoughts.

The first is the strategy theory posted on our website. About how you are really just trying to maximize the use of your life totals. That the game is really just managing those.

I think that is a good idea, but I'd take it a step further. The game like any strategy game is really about managing your resources. Those resources include:

Field position Life totals Potential Damage Dealing (this is probably derived off of board placement and unit strength.) Time Unit Numbers Unit Strength

Deciding which of these is most important and in which order is pretty essential. Anybody want to take a stab at it?

My guess:

1. Field position 2. Unit Strength 3. Time 4. Unit Numbers 5. Life Totals

This is very much open to debate, and I hope you guys do correct me because that'll mean the ideas are being rehashed.

You could even crawl into the meta game and include the opponent's experience and endurance into the mix. I've won a game by taking really long turns. And we've all won/lost by human mistakes on both sides of the board.

Anyways, I'd like to hear more on this. This is an area I could definitely grow in.

For example:
The from I play right now is double cleric, which means life total preserves unit number. also the field position is also to preserve life total and maximize unit strength. I always place archer in game in a position to deal damage without moving much to increase number of times I can use the archer.

I don't think we can really assign things a set order. You need to find an advantage through the path of least resistance. Your opponents formation is easy to flank? Skirt those troops around the edges. You can kill mages in one hit with a LW? Grab that troop number advantage.

Of course, we need to take into account moves that prevent losing an advantage, and gaining an advantage without losing another one. Say I'm trying to rub out a cleric with my traditional scout flanking technique. If I lose that scout (even if I DO take out the cleric) I may not be losing as far as numbers, but I will have healing and my opponent with have range. These trades are okay, but we need to remember to think about them before we make a move. Moves that prevent losing an advantage might be freezing your opponents lone scout so he can't kill your cleric. Freezing a scout is usualy a good move because unless your good with pyros the scout is really your main range utility (making it harder to unfreeze the socut) .

My point wasn't to rip Apt142's resource importance system. I would however argue that importance should be decided based upon the game situation and personal preference. I usualy go with whats easier. If I can kill two mages with my dragon and hes still barely alive... hey, I won. Or if I feel like being defensive and I kill the cleric but lose the scout, I'll use my cleric to be able to exhaust his other troops in relentless combat.

A few notes on psychological tactics. Alt + F1 shop? Win a muddy if you press F5? No, not those kind of tactics! We can however distract and terrorize our opponent. I love killing DMWs with dragons because it looks so damn intimidating (also makes newbies surrender). And we can also try threatening our opponent that we're going to do a certain thing, when there is really a much better move we want to do that we don't want our opponent to see coming. Any other psychological tactics anyone can think of?


Psych Tactics:

Well, no pleading for surrender. And when you do so, never mention dead hampsters or your insufficient allowance. j/k

I've noticed that my never surrender policy has won me a few. When people realize how long it'll take to finish me off, they sometimes think twice about the time they'll waste. But, that really just goes back into using time as a resource. It's best to take it slow in a game. And to expect to take a lot of time.

Quickly demolitioning 1 or two units in the very first rounds of battle is a highly effective strategy. Both in terms of winning the game and in demoralizing the enemy.

I think there is an interesting link in the game between elimitating troops and combat actions. If somebody has two knights left at the end, they have the potential to deal damage every turn, or at the very least do some combat action. In such cases, eliminating a troop doesn't halt their army, but rather eliminates options for them. If you wiped out all the knights in a person's army, you'd find them easier game in the sense that each turn, they have very limited options as to what they can do. Making it easy to predict their next moves.

And maybe that's a good way to think of your troops as not merely an army of size but rather an army of options.

Hyperlink posted something in the tactics forum about reaction. It's very good and probably should be included in here. So, this is the official statement: Go check it out!

My summary of it: Use the battle to manipulate your opponents actions through aggressive maneavers. This includes eliminating threats before they become threats and reducing the enemies effective actions.

On to my information:

The ultimate goal of the game is to disable or destroy all active units of the opponent's force. You can do that in a nu