On that day I wept.
I wept silently, and behind my bloodied faceplate so that my men would not see. From behind the tears, I peered out across the passing sea. In the distance I could still make out the remains of my once mighty kingdom, farther and farther away with every l
ap of the waves. I could hardly then make out the forms of the barbarians moving among the flames, forcing my people into slavery, executing the last of my knights. But even at that distance the Deathlords last words rang in my ears. I could set foot no m
ore on Normandy, but I would bide my time on Wales until I could return.
Yes, I wept over the loss. I wept and vowed revenge.
Combat
In these troubled times honour and glory are gained only through the constant strife of warfare. As the sage has said, "To conquer without risk is to triumph without glory." Before you start your first battle, you are under The Protection of the Emporers... so heed well the advice that is written here, understand the flows and ebbs of war, before you open yourself to the carnage that is Conquest.
Preparing your Army
Half of the battle is fought before the armies take the field. A good commander knows well how to maintain and balance his troops. Use the troopinfo command to remind yourself of your troops abilities, and
the
review command to remind yourself of your army's numbers.
Go to the market to get prices on troops, and buy them. In times of emergency, or poverty, enlist peasants to fight for yo
u, and train them into hardier troops. In times of wealth hire mercenaries, troops who fight for pay, rather than food.
Above all, remember that your seige weapons must be operated by your soldier-class troops. Refer to the table below to see what you need based on your class:
- A Fighter must have five soldiers to support each of his catapults.
- A Barbarian must have five grunts to support each of his ballista.
- A Mage must have five battlemagi to support each of his stormthrowers.
- A Vampire must have five skeletons to support each of his scorpions.
- A Cleric must have five Crusaders to support each of his trebuchet.
- and a Ranger must have five Centaurs to support each of his battering rams.
Without seige weaponry your army will never be able to capture castles.
Finding an Opponent
The next step is to find an opponent. Use the population command to find the names of ten players on the same continent you are currently on. With these names in hand you can comb through them, first u
sing view to see their record of battle, and then spy'ing on them. To attack another player simply type attack
<nick>.
Also, mark well that combat can involve as many as eight armies! Pay close attention to whether you opponent has an ally who may join the battle to defend him, and whether he might gain the defense of a horde (a barbarian horde, for example, or an animal
horde if he is a ranger, or an undead horde if he is a vampire).
If you cannot find a good target to attack, do not despair. For the the Three Kingdoms are constantly threatened all around by the vicious barbarians. Simply quest horde to send your army again
st these
honour less usurpers.
The shape of Conquest
Battle is divided into days, during each of which the armies involved clash. A battle can involve up to eight armies, namely: your army, your horde, your ally's army, your ally's horde, your opponent's army, your opponent's horde, your opponent's ally's
army and your opponent's ally's horde. Each day of battle goes as follows:
- Anything which might affect the attack and defense of the armies involved is applied. In a battle which will be close, pay attention to weather and the effects of spells, heroes, artifacts and items.
- The attack values of all the troops on both sides are added together to compute the sum attack value for an army. Note that only those troops with first strike attack on the first day of a battle. Troops with
x2 or x3 add double or triple their attack value, respectively. Troops with swarm add x1 their attack value every other round, starting with the first, only
if they are joined by at least 500 of their brethren.
Examples:
- 400 soldiers (3/4) contribute 1200 to the attack value of an army, but not on the first day.
- On a rainy day, when troops get (-1/0), those same 400 soldiers contribute only 800 to the attack value of their army.
- 400 soldiers (3/4) pitted against 400 battlemagi (4/2, first strike) will be annihilated, but take none of their opponents! The attack of the 1600 point battlemagi will kill the soldiers on the first day, when only the battlemagi attack due to the
ir first strike capability.
- 100 Berserkers (4/4, x2, swarm), usually have an attack value of 800 (i.e. 400 x2). On a rainy day (-1, 0), they have an attack of 600, since they are (3/4, x2, swarm). However, if there are 500 Berserkers, on a day with no rain, they are x3 every
other round, and their total attack value is as follows:
- On the first round, 0, as they have no first strike.
- On the second, fourth, sixth, etc. rounds, 500 x 4 x 2 = 4000.
- On the third, fifth, seventh, etc. rounds, 500 x 4 x 3 = 6000.
- Damage is dealt, evenly to troops, or weighted to their numbers?
- Creatures with regeneration "heal" 10-25% of their numbers.
- Any army which has reached it's surrender % in casualties, retreats. If the one army being attacked retreats, then the battle is over. If the attacker has at least one seige engine, then the attacker will take one castle.
- If the attacker and the army being attacked are both still in the battle, then the next day begins and battle continues.