Mosteller's Battle Tactics for Hyborian War
MOSTELLER'S BATTLE TACTIC # 1
Basic,
fundamental tactics and strategies of real combat can serve the
Hyborian War player well, if adapted to the game environment and game
rules.
One of my favorite tactics is to utilize a "divide-and-conquer" tactic.
If executed properly, it can effectively alter the existing
balance-of-power for a given kingdom, compared to that of its enemy.
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but the
best path to conquering your enemy's provinces is not necessarily a
straight line at all.
The "divide-and-conquer" tactic is an extremely valuable tool to
include in your tactics arsenal. You do not have to be a master
tactician in order to understand how to employ this tactic against your
enemies.
Why "divide-and-conquer?" Consider the following:
(1) You can use this tactic to effectively disrupt and impede your
enemy's supply lines. If you succeed in severing your enemy's
"line-of-reinforcement," by cutting his nation into two or more
distinct groups of provinces (geographically speaking), you are able to
then deal with the enemy on terms far more reasonable than otherwise
would be the case.
(2) If used to encircle or cut-off the enemy's capital, the effect can
be particularly devastating. Only your enemy's armies in provinces
adjacent to, or which have an unfettered line of reinforcement from,
his capital can be reinforced, once your armies succeed in cutting the
enemy in two.
(3) If "divide-and-conquer" is employed successfully to encircle the
enemy capital completely, then a side benefit is that your enemy's
treasury will begin to see a sharp increase in troop encampment costs,
which will result if new troops raised have no place to go for
assignment but to the enemy's capital. If the enemy's capital is not
completely cut-off from his outer-lying provinces, the ability to
damage your enemy's treasury via "forced encampment costs" will
correspond directly to how few additional provinces your enemy has
which border or are connected by alliance or additional conquests to
his capital.
(4) If the "divide-and-conquer" tactic is used in conjunction with
timely placed peace treaties, the end effect will be that you will
limit and impede your enemy's ability to expand at his leisure, by
effectively disrupting his ability to expand. Sever his supply lines
(lines of reinforcement), and then slap him in a peace treaty, to
effectively consolidate your position.
(5)Successful implementation of the "divide-and-conquer" tactic forces
your enemy to alter his existing strategy, by compelling him to now
endure a forced change of plans. Barring your enemy being willing to
effectively "cede" a given portion of his still-owned outer-lying
territory to you, a situation where no hope of future reinforcement of
outer-lying armies is possible swiftly becomes an untenable situation
to any player who finally ultimately realizes his fate. Empty imperial
armies do not invade additional provinces, nor do empty provincial
armies. Even full (30 troop strength level) provincial armies in
outer-lying provinces will cease to be of use in an offensive capacity,
if an outer-lying imperial army needed to initiate an invasion, whereby
those full provincial armies can be "added to" the imperial army in
question, has less than 8 troops in it. In effect, if successfully
carried out in a timely manner, the "divide-and-conquer" tactic can
result in your using your enemy's own military strength against
himself.
(6) Once outer-lying provincial armies are cut-off from reinforcements
from your enemy's capital province, the option of "raiding empty" your
enemy's provincial armies can then be implemented (depending upon
circumstances, troop types, and troop ability disparities) at your
leisure and convenience. In effect, a "war of attrition" tactic
directed against enemy outer-lying provincial forces can be useful to
whittle enemy forces down over an extended period of time, effectively
making your enemy's outer-lying provinces
just ripe for the picking.
(7) If employed in a timely manner, and you succeed in cutting-off
multiple enemy imperial armies from reinforcement, particularly during
the turn they are fighting battles which deplete them of existing
troops, you may very well find yourself in a situation where your
kingdom can effectively rip the fangs out of your enemy, even if his
kingdom is bigger and militarily stronger.
(8) If you miscalculate, and simply assume that your enemy's
outer-lying imperial armies do not have 8 or more troops in them,
following successfully cutting your enemy's kingdom into two or more
distinct parts, your miscalculation may be your own undoing. A timely
and accurate military spy report at just the right moment can remove
the "element of doubt," where this matter is concerned. Also, even if
you succeed in cutting off some of your enemy's imperial armies from
reinforcement, always be very aware of the disposition and strength of
any of his remaining imperial armies which are not cut-off from
additional reinforcement from his capital. If your enemy has imperial
armies of strength available to him following your cutting his kingdom
into two or more distinct parts, then those very same enemy armies can
then be resorted to by your enemy to "re-establish the
line-of-reinforcement." In this case, what you don't know very well can
hurt you. Indeed, your ignorance can cost you dearly. Again, I stress
the value of timely and accurate military spy information on the
current location and strength of his imperial armies.
(9) If you are successful at employing the "divide-and-conquer" tactic,
and if you follow your success up by using peace treaties to stabilize
the status quo, be on guard against enemy taunts designed to irritate
and anger you to the point where you will invade him again, thereby
breaking the peace treaty you have against him.
(10) Few things are more satisfying than to humble an enemy in Hyborian
War to the point where he cannot invade either yourself or anyone else.
Even if your enemy's outer-lying imperial armies still possess
sufficient strength (8 or more troops) to invade his other neighbors,
though you succeed in slapping a peace treaty on him, the more battles
he fights thereafter, even against kingdoms other than your own,
benefit your kingdom, by virtue of the fact that, once your enemy's
outer-lying imperial armies start losing troops in other battles, once
they fall below 8 troops in strength, those imperial armies effectively
cease to exist as a force to be reckoned with. At that point, your
enemy could use those outer-lying imperial armies to raid you with, but
again, do not allow a raid (a form of taunting) to goad you into doing
something stupid, such as invading the outer-lying provinces where his
imperial armies are stranded. Even a loss for your enemy, in this case,
is to his advantage and to your kingdom's disadvantage, because if his
defeated imperial army retreats to his capital, he will then be able to
reinforce it, and by extension, use it against you again.
(11) Be especially aware as to what other kingdoms (player and
non-player) which your enemy is allied with. Remember - an alliance
your enemy has with another kingdom or kingdoms can be used as a path
to reinforce his outer-lying armies. Mistakes on your part, in this
regard, can prove fatal to your kingdom.
This tactic has served me very, very well over the years I have been
playing Hyborian War, ever since my first game in Hyborian War game #
85. I trust and hope that you - my fellow Hyborian War player - will
find this piece of game advice to be of use to you in your future
conquests and wars. This is probably the single most effective tactic I
have ever used to do well in the various games I have played. The first
kingdom I ever used it on was Aquilonia, and it worked like a charm.
Let me know if it works for you.
- Charles -
MOSTELLER'S BATTLE TACTIC # 2
One of the more
useful tactics I have employed over time, as well as one of the more
annoying ones to my enemies, has been to invade the enemy's capital -
_WITHOUT_ the intention of conquering it.
Usually, to effectuate such, I will invade with the bare minimum number
of troops an imperial army must contain in Hyboria War to invade with -
8 troops.
By using the least number of troops you can to invade with, you are
automatically limiting the maximum number of troops you will lose
during the invasion in question.
The conquest of an enemy's capital province is always a very satisfying
experience. However, such is not to say that it is always wisest to
conquer and subjugate your enemy's capital.
When an enemy's capital province is conquered, their capital will
simply move to another province. While the enemy's capital is worth
bragging rights, and additional victory points according to RSI's
victory ranking system, bragging rights can be very short lived if they
must ultimately give way to your enemy's bragging rights which will
inevitably follow any successful comeback by your enemy.
When invading an enemy capital, my primary intention is usually not to
conquer the province in question. Rather, my primary intention in
invading an enemy's capital province is to lock any characters located
there into the defense of the province - preferably in a set piece
battle.
This tactic is particularly effective when used in conjunction with
Battle Tactic # 1, which I wrote about in a previous article on this
web site. Battle tactic # 1, for those of you who have not read it yet,
pertains to "divide and conquer" tactics.
Locking your enemy's characters down en masse, as often occurs when you
are successful in invading the enemy's capital and locking it into set
piece battle, is the equivalent of a temporary mass assassination.
When an invasion by your imperial army (or navy, if the invasion is
into a coastal province which serves as your enemy's capital) is
successful in locking the forthcoming battle into set piece battle,
this tactic is maximized, by ensuring that your enemy's characters
located in their capital will - effectively taking them out of action
for two turns.
The best diplomats in the world of Hyboria are useless, from a
diplomatic perspective, if they are all swept up in the defense of the
province in question.
This tactic has the benefit of helping to off-set the advantage which
inheres in the alternate tactic which some players employ, whereby they
move all (or most) of their characters to one province, so that they
can then protect more of their characters with one character which they
assign to protection duty.
This tactic of locking enemy players' characters into set piece battles
can be utterly devastating to your enemies, if employed in a timely
manner.
My personal experience with this particular tactic has been that this
is a much more effective way to neutralize an enemy's court than by
reliance upon the uncertainty of assassinations. It is always a
pleasure and a joy to assassinate an enemy character, but to lock down
most (or if you're lucky - ALL - of your enemy's court) in a set piece
battle, just to keep them out of the way during a crucial invasion or
invasions elsewhere is, indeed, a most auspicuous occasion.
This tactic is also appealing if you just want to annoy a given enemy
to death. While having a peace treaty slapped on you by an enemy's
character is a most unpleasant experience, being unable to issue orders
to most, or even all, of your characters in a turn is an even more
unpleasant experience, and particularly if this happens to you during a
most critical stage of the game. If carried out repeatedly in
succession, this tactic can utterly demoralize your enemy.
Even if used only occasionally, this tactic can prove instrumental in
enhancing your kingdom's prospects. This tactic is especially useful
for silencing the arrogant, brash, and ever-bragging veteran player who
has grown far too big for his or her britches.
In my judgement, this tactic is both a military tactic and an
anti-court tactic. Employ it as your particular circumstances dictate.
In the hands of a new Hyborian War player, this can prove to be a very
useful tool in their war arsenal. In the hands of an experienced
veteran, it can become a malevolent instrument of doom. In the hands of
a fool, though, like virtually any tactic or strategy, it will
ultimately prove to be an exercise in futility.
I hope that this tactic proves helpful to those who play Hyborian War,
and especially to the new or unsuccessful players of the game.
MOSTELLER'S BATTLE TACTIC # 3
Contrary to what
some veteran players would have the inexperienced and novice Hyborian
War player to believe, the most powerful army in Hyboria is the 8-troop
imperial army or navy.
Yes, it is a great feeling to have an overabundance of troops in a game
of Hyborian War, and particularly if they come in great varieties and
of excellent quality. Of course, odds are, you're not playing that
kingdom. Rather, odds are that you are in need of troops to fill your
imperial armies or navies.
It is natural to feel a certain degree of apprehension (if you're a
veteran player) or fear (if you're a new or veteran player), when you
learn from spies or other avenues that your enemy has three 30-troop
imperial armies sitting on your border, just poised to cross into your
territory and subjugate your "peace-loving" people.
For some odd reason, the thought of an 8-troop imperial army sitting on
your border, or even more than one 8-troop imperial army sitting on
your border comes across to the unacquainted as less intimidating than
full strength enemy armies. One of the great strengths of the 8-troop
imperial army lies in subtlety.
The disadvantages of an 8-troop "minimum strength" imperial army is
self-evident, in my considered judgement. The advantages of a 8-troop
imperial army are not always so evident, and particularly to the new,
novice, or unsuccessful Hyborian War player. So, what are the
advantages of an 8-troop imperial army on active status?
(1) It has the potential to invade any province in the game, as long as
it has access to the target province's border through conquered or
allied territory.
(2) It is often times taken for granted as being not a threat. However,
I have taken many provinces with 8-troop armies from bungling fools who
have over-extended themselves or are otherwise occupied with other
hostile powers. To an inexperienced player, the prospect of throwing
8-troop imperial armies at your enemies may seem, at first, to be a
daunting - if not impossible - possibility. In the hands of an
experienced player, though, 8-troop imperial armies are the Hyborian
war equivalent of surgical knives - knives which slice through enemy
territory with an almost uncanny degree of precision.
(3) As I explained in the article I wrote titled "Battle Tactic # 2,"
also located on this web site, an 8-troop imperial army can be used to
lock-down an enemy's characters in set-piece battle. This is true
whether the target province in question is an enemy's capital, or an
outer-lying province where he/she has characters located.
(4) An 8-troop imperial army on active status makes an ideal tool for
"feigning attacks." To distract an enemy from your true conquest
objective, distract him/her with feigned invasions elsewhere. An
8-troop imperial army automatically limits the maximum number of troops
you will lose in such an invasion. Ideally, the feigning attack will
pursue a course of trying to lock the enemy into set piece battle,
whether the enemy has characters located in the target province or not.
A feigning attack is not concerned with enemy characters so much as it
is with militarily distracting the enemy. The objective of a feigning
attack is NOT to conquer the enemy province in question, but rather,
simply to distract the enemy into responding to this attack, thereby
resulting in a division of enemy military assets available for
responding to your true target(s) of conquest. Feigning attacks by
8-troop (or larger) imperial armies are most often, though not always,
best to launch one turn ahead of your invasion(s) directed at the true
object(s) of conquests. When launching feigning attacks, particularly
with a feigning attack by an 8-troop imperial army, send 8 troops to
patrol, in the hope that they will be late to battle. It is very
possible, depending upon circumstances which vary from game to game and
battle to battle, to actually end up losing zero troops during a
feigning attack. Declaring light losses is also a good supporting
tactic to utilize, when carrying out feigning attacks.
(5) An 8-troop imperial army, accompanied by a select character or two
with force march, rains, or other similar "movement" spells, is often
times useful for invading enemy provinces for the sole purpose of
tying-down large quantities of enemy imperial troops or armies
stationed in the target province. By locking numerically superior enemy
forces into battle, you employ a "delaying tactic," one which is
designed to slow your enemy's rate of progress. By "helping" your enemy
to gain set piece, instead of open field battles, his/her rate of
progress deteriorates. This is true, regardless of whether you invade
the enemy outright, or whether both you and the enemy invade a
3rd-party's province. If you can't win this battle for a 3rd-party's
province, then there exists the option of forcing the battle into
set-piece, rather than allowing it to go open field. If you can't stop
your enemy's progress entirely, then you should seriously consider
slowing it down as much as possible. This is one way to go about doing
that.
(6) An 8-troop imperial army stacked with many characters of various
talents will often times defeat a numerically superior enemy force,
though many variables affect the battle's outcome, such as troop types,
troop quality, character spells and talents, terrain
advantages/disadvantage, and other variables. The battle does not
always go to the largest army, but to the best army.
(7) As an enemy army or armies invade your provinces, it is possible,
if you have planned ahead with the necessary intents-to-invade, to
counterattack your enemy. As he/she invades your provinces, by invading
his/her provinces at the same time, you hold the potential to cut
his/her forces off from future reinforcement, depending upon variables
such as alliances and other provinces owned by yourself and your enemy.
Even if the enemy is successful in conquering your provinces, he/she
may find that their armies fo conquest have become depleted, and you
can then counter-attack them and send them retreating at a later date.
Some players will over-extend themselves, and at the end of a long
string of conquests, their imperial armies are cut-off and or depleted,
and much like Nazi German's failed invasion of Russia during World War
II, they will reach the point where they can no longer sustain their
rate of conquest. 8-troop imperial armies can prove to be particularly
useful in retaking provinces from an enemy who has over-extended
himself/herself.
(8) An 8-troop imperial army is often useful when serving as the lead
element of a major invasion, one which is quickly followed by a second
invasion by additional forces. The 8-troop imperial army is sent-in,
with all 8 troops on patrol, and tries to lock the enemy into set piece
battle. A second intent-to-invade issued on the turn following the
initial intent-to-invade of the same province will allow you to bring
additional imperial armies into the coming set piece battle. The
8-troop army will absorb the worst of the enemy's battle magic spells,
such as firewall. An example of how to issue the necessary intents to
invade now follows:
Turn # 4
(I)ntent to (I)nvade (241)
Turn # 5
(I)ntent to (I)nvade (241)
(9) Kingdoms with naval capabilities also can utilize 8-troop imperial
navies on active status to launch amphibious invasions of enemy coastal
provinces. These amphibious invasions (which require an
intent-to-invade to be issued in order to successfully invade a coastal
province with an imperial navy) can be full-fledged stand-alone
invasions of enemy provinces, which will not be supported by your
imperial land armies, or they can act in unison with your land armies
to carry out an invasion of an enemy's coastal provinces. An amphibious
invasion by an active imperial navy can either spearhead the invasion,
as described in item # 8 above, or the amphibious invasion can be the
main thrust which was preceded by a preliminary lead element invasion
of a land army. Likewise, if your kingdom has more than one 8-troop
imperial navy on active status, the possibility arises that you can
utilize one imperial navy to act as the lead element of your major
invasion force, with the second imperial navy acting in a support
follow-up invasion role.
The 8-troop imperial army tactic is best used when the army is on
active status, rather than on defensive status. The options outlined in
this article are in regards to the use of 8-troop imperial armies on
active status, not in regards to their use on defensive status.
I have tried, in this article, to highlight some of the major options
available for employing 8-troop "minimum strength" imperial armies to
your kingdom's advantage. I trust and hope that the new, novice, or
unsuccessful Hyboria War player will find this battle tactic to be of
use to them in their future wars in the world of Hyboria. Just remember
- good luck cannot always be relied on. Good tactics can!
MOSTELLER'S BATTLE TACTIC # 4
When a kingdom
has plenty of money in its royal treasury, players often times feel
that they have more options at their disposal than when their kingdom
goes broke. This battle tactic is for use when your kingdom runs out of
money. If you implement it when your kingdom has money, your treasury
will soon become depleted at record speed.
Once your kingdom reaches a NONE treasury level, at that point in time,
you should begin issuing an inordinate amount of intents-to-invade
and/or intents-to-raid. In past games, there have been times when I
would issue 100+ intents to invade.
The objective, of course, is to maximize your kingdom's ability to
respond to all potential situations. This is done by issuing
intents-to-invade for every province which you border, as well as every
province that you own. Furthermore, if you are invading enemy provinces
or locked in set piece battles, issue intents-to-invade for those
respective provinces, also.
The proper time to reduce the number of intents to raid is the last war
season turn in a given set of war seasons. Why? So that you will not
end up paying war faction bribes for being unable to carry out excess
intents-to-raid which you issued in the last war season of set of war
seasons in question.
The intents-to-invade are automatically cancelled when peace years turns arrive.
Also, when issuing the excess intents to invade, be sure to toss in a
few extra ones for provinces you do not border. Most players never have
spy info in a timely manner, or they get only a partial military spy
report. Make your enemies "think" you're planning an invasion from an
unexpected quarter. Even if they have a full military spy report on
your armies' current locations, you lose nothing.
By issuing intents-to-invade everything you own, as well as everything
you border, your imperial armies will be able to automatically
re-invade a province which you lose, expectedly or unexpectedly, with
the shortest amount of time wasted.
When your treasury dies, you actually gain an increase in flexibility,
by employment of this tactic. Use it wisely, and it will serve you
well. Abuse it, or implement it at the wrong time, and your treasury
will dry up in a flash.
While this increased flexibility is not a replacement for having money
in your treasury, which directly affects your ability to raise troops,
it is better than being broke and not having the flexibility, in my
book.
When your enemies spy you, sometimes they only get a partial spy report
of your military, without the locations of your imperial armies. By
having intents-to-invade at the ready for all possible contingencies,
you simultaneously minimize the effectiveness of your enemies' spies,
even as you increase your own military's readiness and strike
capability.
World prophecy reports will, many times though not always, reveal to
you the number of war seasons which you will have to endure before the
next peace years turn arrives.
I hope that you find this tactic to be useful to you in pursuit of your future conquests throughout Hyboria!
MOSTELLER'S BATTLE TACTIC # 5
A great
distinction exists between communicating and communicating effectively.
Hyborian War is a game that allows for multiple methods of
communication, and learning _HOW_ to communicate is far and away more
important than _WHAT_ you are trying to communicate.
Learning to communicate effectively with your fellow players - allies,
enemies, and neutrals alike - can often prove crucial to your kingdom's
fate in a game of Hyborian War.
Communicating effectively does not mean running up your phone bill by
calling every player in the game after you receive each turn. While it
is true that talking on the phone with those in the game with you can
be a great deal of fun, it also can prove to be cost prohibitive. If
there is any one piece of advice I would offer to new players of
Hyborian War, it would be to steer clear of long distance telephone
calls to those in the game with you. It is far too easy to get addicted
to the game, and if you are not careful, things can get out-of-hand,
where your personal finances or family's budget are concerned.
E-mail is a very useful, and cost effective communication tool which is widely available to the masses at this point in time.
A good old-fashioned letter written and delivered via the U.S. Mail can
still be the most treasured form of communication many players will
receive during a game of Hyborian War. It's always nice to receive a
letter, and particularly if there's no bill attached from bill
collectors. This is particularly so, when the letters are written with
a flair for the game, and penned in an "in-character" sense.
Propaganda is a valid tool of war. Hyborian war is no exception to this
rule of thumb. On occasion, I have been known to use it, myself. Want
to add a touch of clever deception to the game? Early in the game, send
a letter supposedly signed by another kingdom's king or queen, and if
you have a friend in the same state where that player resides, mail it
to that friend first, if you want to have an actual post mark lend a
sense of greater credibility to your message. Players should take note,
though, to distinguish between a message signed by king so-and-so, and
a letter signed using the player's actual name.
Regardless of what particular medium of communication you use to convey
your messages to your fellow players, don't forget that in the end, it
is all just a game. Do not hesitate to communicate with enemies in a
game, also. You might just find that they will turn out to be future
allies in future games, and also, you might just make a friend in the
process. Many players, though, and particularly newer ones, will often
times overlook the opportunities which enemy-to-enemy communications
allow.
Over the course of time, there is no greater tool available to players,
where communications with others is concerned, than honesty in your
dealings with them. That's not to say that back-stabbing is not a part
of the game. Of course it is! It's never the most pleasant thing in the
world to have a trusted "ally" in a game of Hyborian War betray you,
but there are worse things in life. At times, the betrayal can makes
things more interesting, though as a general rule of thumb,
back-stabbers are loathed by their fellow players. As a reminder,
though, it simply is not possible for an enemy to back-stab you, as
they are already your enemy. You can be the most straight-forward
person who ever played the game, and ultimately, you are destined to
learn that there are those who can - and will - back-stab you. Learn to
take it all in stride, and at the first opportune moment, crush them
with a note of deafening finality! At times, even your enemies will
work to assist you in crushing a back-stabber, if you can validate your
claim against the person you so accuse.
Many times, even if you cannot reach common ground over a given
province which yourself and a fellow player might both need, there
exists the opportunity to fight it out to the death over the province
in question, and once the winner is decided, an alliance can be forged
in favor of mutual cooperation. Learn to discern, when communicating
and negotiating province dispositions in the game.
Particularly for newer players, if you're going to communicate, it's
best to start as soon as possible, and maintain communications from
that point forth. Breakdowns in communication tend to strain alliances,
and often times result in excuses from your fellow players to the
effect of, "Hey, I thought you must have dropped out of the game.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have invaded your provinces." Such words bring
little comfort to the ears of a player who has just been attacked by
kingdoms in their game whom they felt to be friendly toward them, based
upon prior communications long since forgotten.
Some unfortunate souls, though, simply are so utterly lacking in
diplomatic skills that, even if they have the best of intentions and
deal with their fellow players in a forthright manner, end up
alienating the people they speak with. It may be a twang in the voice,
or an arrogant tone of conversation. In such instances, it is usually
best to not communicate by telephone, relying instead upon the written
word to carry the day for you.
Sometimes, though, not communicating at all can be an effective
strategy, as long as you are consistent in following that tactic, once
implemented. Few things can be more surprising than encountering an
active kingdom which you had long felt to be non-played. This tactic is
best implemented if you also play the game with your address
unavailable. Even with your address unavailable, though, your game
actions can betray your kingdom as being played, if you opt for
aggressive game-play over passive game-play.
Even a threat of full scale nuclear war in the real world is still,
technically, an act of diplomacy, and not an act of war. The threat of
war can often be a useful tool in exploiting your neighboring kingdoms
in a game of Hyborian War. Tact is a very useful tool to employ when
using the "direct threat" tactic of communicating with your fellow
rulers.
Regardless of which method(s) of communication you opt to use to assist
your game-play, just by communicating, whether you are successful or a
failure at it, your game-play experience and fun factor can be greatly
increased.
The United States Marine Corps says that the key to success in battle
is effective communications. Remember that axiom, and it will always
serve you well. Forget it, and it may very well seal your doom! Just
remember: When in doubt - communicate!
MOSTELLER'S BATTLE TACTIC # 6
Hyborian War is a
game that rewards momentum. No two kingdoms are the same, so that helps
to increase the diversity element of the game. However, it is always
important, especially for newer players, to remember that momentum,
once achieved, should be maintained, if at all possible.
While RSI's victory ranking system leaves a lot to be desired, I have
found from experience that it is far easier to maintain your standing
in the victory rankings in the end game stage, than it is to make
progress near the end of the game. That's not to say that a strong
finish is impossible. Rather, it has been found to be easier to make
progress early, and then try to hold on to it, than to build up your
forces over a considerable period of time, and then try to expand.
To maintain momentum, I recommend the following:
(1) Always try to raise at least 100 troops per turn. Odds are, you
won't get them, but it should max-out the amount of troops you will get
each turn. The exception to this, of course, lies with mercenaries. If
your kingdom can hire a large number of mercenaries in one turn, you
must learn to gauge your needs. Where possible, use mercenaries to fill
your attacking armies, because if they die, you won't have to pay them.
Great characters are always nice to have, but only armies with troops
in them can actually invade and seize control of enemy provinces, which
will allow for your kingdom to grow. By maxing-out the number of troops
you can raise each time, again keeping in mind the rule regarding
mercenaries, you will maximize your ability to achieve and maintain
momentum.
(2) Always pay attention to issuing intents-to-invade. You want to have
1 or more intents to invade in each turn, so that momentum can be
maintained. If you are not worried about your treasury, then it is also
a good idea to re-intent-to-invade a province the turn after you
initially intent-to-invade it, so as to be prepared in case your
invasion fails. It is also a good idea, at times, to intent-to-invade
the province you own, and are attacking _FROM_. This helps to ensure
that your ability to maintain momentum is maximized, even if the
province you are attacking from is unexpectedly invaded and conquered
from you in the turn you are attacking elsewhere. Such an option allows
your invading army to turn right back around, and invade the province
you owned but now have lost. An example of how to do this now follows:
Example: You own Afghulistan (195) and you want to invade Iranistan
Steppes (241). You are about to fill out your turn orders sheet for
turn # 5.
Turn # 5 (Issuing of original intents to invade)
(I)ntent to (I)nvade (241)
(I)ntent to (I)nvade (195)
Turn # 6 (Issuing of follow-up intents to invade)
(I)ntent to (I)nvade (241)
(I)ntent to (I)nvade (195)
(I)ntent to (I)nvade (212) (This last intent sets the stage for a
further invasion in turn # 7 of the Ilbars Mountains, so that you can
maintain momentum.)
(3) Turns in which your kingdom sits around not invading are turns in
which your kingdom stagnates and does not grow nor maintain momentum.
In the initial stages of the game, it is vital to maintain momentum, to
gain victory points early on. As the game progresses, if your kingdom's
military resources become depleted, you might want to pause for a turn
or two to re-build your forces and revise your strategies and tactics.
However, in most instances, I recommend against this. Timely spy
intelligence can assist you in making the proper determinations for
your kingdom, since circumstances vary from turn to turn and from game
to game.
(4) Some kingdoms, such as Kosala, do not have to conquer much in order
to make considerable strides towards victory. Other kingdoms, such as
Turan, have to conquer far more provinces to equal Kosala's victory
points when Kosala takes a province. So, obviously, momentum is not as
important a consideration when playing Kosala as it is when playing
Turan.
(5) The veteran player has the advantage of experience, whereas the new
player has the advantage of being more open-minded. Most veterans have
never won a game of Hyborian War, and new players would be well served
to keep this in mind. Forgetting about, or trivializing, the importance
of momentum can very well play a determining role in whether a player
wins his/her game or not.
(6) Non-player kingdoms usually, though not always, pose relatively
easy obstacles to overcome. Momentum against non-player kingdoms,
particularly early in the game, can help your kingdom to grow, thereby
gaining additional imperial armies/navies for your kingdom. These
additional imperial armies/navies can then be utilized to give your
kingdom even more momentum than it already has.
(7) Open field battles are more conducive to maintaining momentum, as a
general rule, than open field battles. There are instances, however,
where you will want to opt for a set piece battle over an open field
battle, in order to maintain the greatest degree of momentum possible.
How so, you ask?
For instance, if you have a firewall spell available to one of your
characters, you might find wisdom in locking a battle into set piece
with that character in your imperial army, to help you knock the wind
out of a known or feared numerically superior enemy force. If your
imperial army gets an open field battle, only to get wiped out and lose
the battle, your momentum is less than if you get a set piece battle
and win the battle.
Sometimes, no matter what you do, and no matter how good your tactics
and strategies are, you might find yourself in a position where you are
stymied for a turn or two, resulting in diminished or stopped momentum.
What do you do in such a scenario? You immediately should set about the
task of reestablishing your momentum with new intents-to-invade and the
raising of more troops.
In any instance, momentum, while important, should not trump wisdom,
when making your kingdom's decisions. If you know beyond doubt that
your enemy is going to crush you into oblivion, then your focus should
not be on your momentum, but on your enemy's momentum. In such
instances, momentum doesn't become unimportant, rather, the focus of
momentum changes.
When the enemy has momentum, the objective is to delay, impede, or halt
the enemy's momentum. Peace treaties, disrupt warpact, black death,
firewall, tribute, allied defending armies, and delaying tactics are
all tools available for players' uses in effectuating such. At times,
you will not have all of these options available to you. The wise
leader will not fret over what tools they do not have at their
disposal. Rather, the wise leader will make the best use of whatever
tools - few or large in variety -they have at their disposal to deal
with the situation at hand.
The war is more than the sum of individual battles. Momentum is no less
important to waging a successful war than tactics or strategies are. It
has been said that the best defense is a good offense. To have the best
of both worlds, learn the value of momentum, and such knowledge will
serve you well!
MOSTELLER'S BATTLE TACTIC # 7
The Art of
Assassination can be used as an effective tactic to assist and
facilitate your kingdom's chances of success in a game of Hyborian War.
The key to being effective, when acting in the role of assassin, lies
in understanding _WHY_ you are earmarking a given target(s) for
assassination.
To be a truly effective assassin, strive to assassinate with some semblance of _PURPOSE_ in your targeting scheme.
Understanding _HOW_ to prioritize potential assassination targets is
crucial to maximizing the impact of assassinations on your enemies.
A list of various "purposes" for assassinating now follows:
(1) To launch a pre-emptive "first strike" against an enemy's royal
court, taking out the enemy's court before the enemy's characters can
be utilized against your kingdom.
(2) To serve as an element in a campaign of psychological warfare against your enemy.
(3) To launch a "surgical strike" against an enemy's royal court,
focusing on key targets while ignoring less crucial targets, to achieve
a specified end.
(4) To inhibit an enemy's ability to provide effective rulership of his
nation (monarch) and/or his provinces (provincial rulers).
(5) To destroy or inhibit an enemy's capacity for magic.
(6) To put the fear of God in your enemy.
(7) To demoralize your enemy.
(8) To incapacitate or destroy an enemy's spy capability.
(9) To impair or destroy an enemy's ability and capacity to respond to,
or retaliate for, your own court's activities directed against him/her,
and/or to impair or destroy an enemy's ability and capacity to respond
to, or retaliate for, similar court activities of allies, friends, or
other third parties.
(10) To diminish your enemy's ability to make adequate preparations for
his/her wars, whether in regards to their offensive operations, or in
regards to their defensive operations, or both.
(11) To diminish or destroy, to the degree possible, an enemy's ability
to assign military commanders to their armies, resulting in a decrease
in effectiveness of your enemy's armies, and a decrease in your enemy
player's morale.
(12) To act in support of allied military operations.
(13) To enhance the effectiveness of non-player kingdoms, and their
ability to respond to, and deal with, military actions of your enemy
directed at said non-player kingdoms.
(14) To diminish or destroy an enemy's diplomatic corps, thereby reducing or eliminating your enemy's diplomatic options.
(15) To impair an enemy's ability to coordinate with other kingdoms, to the detriment of your kingdom.
While the above list may not be total and conclusive of "purposes" for
targeting enemy characters for assassination, it is a list of the major
and most-often-resorted-to purposes for ordering assassination
missions.
How to _PRIORITIZE_ your assassination attempts depends on many factors
which can vary from turn to turn, and from game to game. Priorities can
- and do - change from turn to turn. Recognizing the need to
reprioritize your targeting list is an important part of game play, in
order to become a truly effective player of Hyborian War.
If your primary desire is to avoid being placed into a peace treaty by
an enemy, then your focus should be upon an enemy's characters which
possess high skills in the area of diplomacy. A secondary consideration
is to focus upon enemy characters who possess the spell DIPLOMACY.
If your desire is to maximize the sheer number of assassinations you
inflict upon your enemy, priority should be given for eliminating any
enemy characters which possess the REINCARNATE spell. Otherwise, your
enemy will simply resurrect the characters your assassins successfully
eliminate.
If your desire is to minimize the effect of enemy wizards and other
spell casters, focus your efforts on enemy characters which possess
FIREWALL and BLACK DEATH spells. Concentrate on other spells, to a
lesser degree, and if an enemy's characters' actual spells are not
known, then focus your attacks first upon those characters who are in
position to inhibit your actual military operations already underway,
and secondly, focus upon enemy characters who have the highest skill
levels in the area of magic. Another consideration is whether a given
enemy character possesses multiple spells. To inhibit an enemy's
strategic movement ability, focus your assassins upon enemy characters
who possess strategic movement spells, such as FORCE MARCH, FAR SIGHT,
SUN BANE, and RAINS. To inhibit the enemy's ability to gather spy info
on you via arcane means, focus (during war seasons turns) upon enemy
characters who possess FAR SIGHT spells, and focus (during peace years
turns), first, upon enemy characters who possess PROPHECY spells, and
secondly, upon enemy characters who possess FAR SIGHT spells.
As a general room of thumb, particularly after you have been placed
into a peace treaty by your enemy, I recommend the following priority
listing for targeting of an enemy's characters:
1ST PRIORITY
Enemy characters which possess the REINCARNATE spell.
2ND PRIORITY
Enemy characters who possess a high level of DIPLOMACY skill.
3RD PRIORITY
Enemy characters who possess the DIPLOMACY spell.
4TH PRIORITY
Enemy characters who possess a high level of INTRIGUE skill.
5TH PRIORITY
Enemy characters who possess a high level of MAGIC skill. (Note:
Priorities listed in # 4 and # 5 can be interchanged, depending upon
your particular needs at the moment).
6TH PRIORITY
Enemy monarch(s) and then enemy provincial
ruler(s).
7TH PRIORITY
Enemy military commanders.
Assassinations tend to be more effective, if carried out in close
coordination with other players. Mass assassination campaigns against a
given kingdom's royal court can prove either devastating at worst, or
extremely irritating at best. Speaking from experience in a prior game,
even the royal court of such widely "feared" kingdoms as Zamora can be
eliminated through concerted and coordinated efforts, and this is
particularly so when this is effectuated by multiple kingdoms, instead
of just relying upon your own court's assassination attempts.
Assassinations, even if the desire or commitment does not exist, to
eradicate a given enemy's entire court, can prove crucial to turning
the tide of single battles or regional campaigns.
In the first war season turn following a peace years turn, if you
already know the last character which an enemy had at their disposal
(Example: AQUI-20), then you can launch "blind assassinations" at newer
characters (Example: AQUI-21), by dispatching your assassin(s) to your
enemy's current capital province, since all new characters will report
for duty at a player's current capital province. This is particularly
an option when you definitely want to carry out an assassination, yet
you don't know the current locations of an enemy's existing characters.
Knowing _HOW_ to prioritize assassinations, and _WHEN_ to assassinate
enemy characters, is of far greater importance than having the best
agent-equipped court in the game and not having an appreciation for how
to turn the tool of assassinations into a formidable weapon in your
kingdom's arsenal of destruction.
Timely spy information on the location of enemy characters is crucial to implementing an effective assassination strategy.
The primary skill to assist your character in successfully carrying out an assassination is INTRIGUE.
Players without characters who possess decent intrigue skills should
look to their characters that possess high skills in the HEROISM area.
Personal combat skill is _NOT_ required to successfully assassinate
enemy characters, and at times, even characters with a NONE personal
combat skill can successfully assassinate. Personal combat skill helps
to enhance a given character's likelihood of success in escaping,
regardless of whether the assassination attempt, itself, is successful
or fails.
New players and veteran players alike should not fear an enemy's court,
simply because the enemy possesses the potential to carry out
assassinations. Rather, a healthy respect for your enemy's court,
combined with a healthy understanding of _WHY_ and _HOW_ assassinations
should be prioritized, will serve you much better than a policy of
unbridled fear for your enemy's unseen agents.
The single best agent I have ever seen was not a Zamoran character, but
a Keshani character. The underlying lesson of this point is that you
should never underestimate your enemy, and likewise, you should never
overestimate your enemy. Your perspective should embrace a sense of
_PROPORTION_. Some of this sense of "proportion" comes from actual
experience in the game, while much of it is nothing more than a
reliance upon common sense and a good understanding of game mechanics.
Agents, if used effectively, can be a great source of frustration for
your enemies. Once your enemies assassinate all of your court members,
there remains nothing to fear from assassins, until the next peace
years brings you new characters.
Agents do _NOT_ win wars. Great leadership does. In my first game, I
played 47 turns without ever getting a single agent. Some of the best
assassins are _NOT_ agents, but rather, priests, nobles, heroes,
generals, and even wizards. Sometimes, the best fortunes of war come
disguised. Focus on what tools you have at your disposal, rather than
worrying yourself to death over what tools you do not have at your
disposal, and even when you lose a character from an assassin, or a
battle to enemy armies, try to learn from your mistakes, so as to not
repeat them ever again.
It is said that Conan makes a great assassin. Don't hesitate to use him
as one, accordingly. Likewise, even the great Conan can be successfully
assassinated.
Many times, even if your assassination attempts are not successful,
your enemy will learn to respect - or even fear - you, if you are
persistent and demonstrate competence in your selection of
assassination targets.
Your will always have a chancellor and an adjutant-general. One way of
looking at things is that these two characters can always be used to
assassinate. If they get captured, they will automatically be ransomed,
even if you have a NONE royal treasury. If they get killed trying to
assassinate your enemy's characters, you will automatically get a new
chancellor and/or adjutant-general, as the respective case may be.
A weak court in the hands of a strong player is a better bet for
victory in the long run over a strong court in the hands of a weak
player.
Being new to the game does not mean that you have to be a weak player. Let the wise take heed and beware!
If the choice is between having your entire royal court of characters
killed off by enemy assassins yet retain all of your kingdom's
provinces intact, or having all of your characters intact yet lose all
of your kingdom's provinces (but one) to enemy military forces, which
is really the worst situation to be in?
MOSTELLER'S BATTLE TACTIC # 8
The Ice Age is a
phase of the game that can occur at the end of a game of Hyborian War.
What follows are advice and tactics that you, the player, may find
useful to enhance and improve your game play during the Ice Age phase
of your Hyborian War game.
(1) Prophecy spells are a useful tool for finding out when the Ice Age
will start. Often times, you can find out well in advance when the Ice
Age will start for your particular game. Regardless of whether you are
playing a barbarian nation during the ice age, defending against one or
more barbarian nations, or both, the first step to preparedness is
knowing when the Ice Age will start, so that you are not caught
completely unaware when it does actually begin.
(2) For the purposes of the Ice Age, the following kingdoms are
considered "barbarian kingdoms:" Asgard; Vanaheim; Cimmeria, &
Pictland.
(3) Once the Ice Age begins, no kingdom will, at that point, have any
chance of success in attempting to negotiate peace with any of these
four barbarian kingdoms. The barbarian kingdoms, however, will still be
able to negotiate peace with non-barbarian kingdoms, but not with one
another.
(4) Once the Ice Age begins, barbarian nations' active imperial armies
will be able to move into any kingdom's provinces, be they the
provinces of allied or non-allied positions, both player-kingdom and
non-player kingdom provinces, alike. This provides the barbarian
nations with much enhanced mobility on the battlefield, and can be
difficult for uninitiated to deal with, at times.
(5) One of the favorite tactics of players who play barbarian kingdoms
during an Ice Age is to move their active imperial armies into their
enemy's provinces, and on the same turn, issue intents-to-invade for
other enemy provinces bordering the ones they will launch their
invasions from. This has the end effect of a player's kingdom being
attacked from their own provinces. When this happens, this can often
result in feelings of frustration and hopelessness by the targeted
nations so affected by barbarian invasions during the Ice Age.
(6) The key to dealing with multiple barbarian invasions during an Ice
Age is to not freak out, but to remain calm, so that you can
effectively plot strategy and tactics to repel such invasions, and
failing that, to enable you to minimize your losses to the barbarian
aggressor(s) invading you.
(7) While peace treaties are 100% pointless to attempt against a
barbarian nation during the Ice Age, Disrupt Warpact can still be used
to impede or stop one or more invasions by barbarians during the Ice
Age. This, of course, depends on the fact that there is an actual
warpact attack occurring against your kingdom in the same turn your
diplomats are successful in seeking to disrupt warpact. If you are only
getting attacked by a single kingdom during a single turn, even if it
is in multiple places, that does not qualify as a warpact. A warpact
occurs any time you have two or more nations invading a given kingdom
during the same turn. Even when successful, a disrupt warpact may not
always be 100% successful, but only partially successful in stopping
some, but not all, invasions by barbarians during the Ice Age. You may
want to try to disrupt warpact multiple turns in a row, if a warpact
continues to threaten you with invasion. If you are successful in
disrupting warpact, the success of that order only lasts one turn. Be
certain that you understand that aspect of how disrupt warpacts works.
(8) Remaining mobile is advantageous to the barbarian player. With
proper planning, a barbarian kingdom during the Ice Age holds the
potential to deal a staggering blow to one or more enemies. Issuing
intents-to-invade in rapid succession, turn after turn after turn,
helps barbarian kingdoms to maintain this much needed mobility.
Mobility lends itself very well to the achievement of momentum,
something I have spoken at length about in another tactics advice
section.
(9) Conversely, if you are facing invasion by barbarian kingdoms during
an Ice Age, one of your primary objectives should be to reduce, if at
all possibility, the barbarians' mobility, and especially once they
invade your interior, or poise themselves to cut your capital off from
your outer-lying provinces.
(10) It is important to remember that elimination of a barbarian
kingdom's mobility during the Ice Age is impossible to achieve. Thus,
don't waste your time worrying about trying to figure out how to pull
that off. Instead, the goal is to reduce their mobility, not eliminate
it. One of the keys to doing this is, since you can't stop them from
invading, to try and slow their invasions down. Seeking set piece
battle is one way of doing this, as is making sure all of your province
defense orders are already set to "Set Piece" before the Ice Age
strikes.
(11) If barbarians are successful in getting nothing but open field
battles against you, then every single turn after they invade, your
kingdom is going to face them in battle, in all likelihood If you
managed to do nothing but get set piece, instead of open field, even if
you still end up losing the province, at worst, you could only lose
every other turn, where the same barbarian army in question is
concerned, compared to that same barbarian army succeeding at getting
open field battle every turn. In a 7 turn war season during an ice age,
a single barbarian army can engage your forces in open field battle no
less than 7 times. That same army, forced to fight set piece instead of
open field, at most, can only engage your forces in 3 times. The
difference is that you will end up fighting less than half as often,
resulting in less troops being lost, as well as losing less provinces
to the barbarian invaders.
(12) Using strategic movement spells is a good way to enhance your
kingdom's chances of getting set piece, rather than open field, when
you are fighting against barbarian nations invading you during an Ice
Age. Remember, every little bit helps. If you have Force March, Far
Sight, or even Rains, cast them all as strategic movement spells. The
worst you can do is fail. You have nothing to lose. The great object is
to force the barbarians into set piece battle, where possible, rather
than face them in open field.
(13) All four barbarian kingdoms fight at heavy losses before
retreating, during open field battle. This is another reason most other
kingdoms are better served to not engage them in open field battle.
They already have an advantage in open field battle, so, if at all
possible, you should try to negate that advantage, by doing everything
you can to get set piece battle.
(14) Checking the option to Decline Battle, during the strategic
movement phase, is also another way to assist you in getting the set
piece, instead of open field. Exercising this option might even help
the enemy gain the terrain of preference that they seek. However, the
terrain type that the battle will be fought in is immaterial to the
core fundamental objective of trying to slow the enemy's invasion
sequences down. The best way to do that is to tie the barbarian
invaders into as many set piece battles as possible. Again, they may
still win, but at least they won't win nearly so many, because there
won't be as many battles occurring during the same timeframe, if the
battles go set piece instead of open field.
(15) If an Ice Age starts in the middle of a set of war seasons, if
your kingdom can successfully negotiate peace with the barbarians
BEFORE the Ice Age starts, then that treaty will continue to hold until
the following peace years, which should also be the last peace years of
the game. This is yet another reason why knowing exactly what turn the
Ice Age starts (learned through prophecy report information) can serve
you well, when fighting against the barbarians during the Ice Age.
(16) Circumstances vary from game to game, and from kingdom to kingdom,
but more times than not, players allow their fears to get the best of
them, and begin doing irrational things, effectively costing themselves
the war against barbarian kingdoms during an Ice Age. Again, remain
calm, and don't lose your cool. Think calmly, rationally, and if you
find yourself in a situation from which you can't seem to find a way to
extricate yourself, ask other players of Hyborian War for advice. They
may not know what to do, either, but there is also a chance that one or
more of them will, and will be able to help you plan a way to counter
your barbarian enemies.
(17) The barbarian kingdoms' characters can still die during an Ice
Age. Continue spying their court and military. If you have limited
covert assets at your disposal, opt to spy their military over their
court. By knowing where all of their armies are each and every turn,
you can better prepare an effective response, and possibly, even find
opportunity to counterattack. By knowing an enemy's army locations each
and every turn, at a bare minimum, you can know the extent of what
their targeting opportunities are, where your provinces are concerned.
Knowledge is power, and this is also true during an Ice Age war against
the barbarian kingdoms.
(18) If barbarian kingdoms are allied to other kingdoms, and you have
an opportunity to break their alliance, this can often times result in
the barbarian kingdom's armies getting attacked by their allies, and
then retreating away from your borders. Some barbarian players retain
alliances formed during the course of the game, as they go into the Ice
Age. This is to the disadvantage of barbarian kingdoms, because it
leaves them with a window of vulnerability which a diligent, watchful
opponent could possibly capitalize on, to the barbarians' detriment.
(19) If your kingdom has a number of imperial armies, ideally, you will
want to deactivate a few. How many depends upon a number of factors,
and upon a wide variety of situations that can vary from game to game,
and from kingdom to kingdom. By deactivating several imperial armies in
a timely fashion (prior to barbarians actually invading you), barring a
depleted troop base, you should have more troops available to respond
to barbarian invasions, even if they attack you from your own
provinces.
(20) When deactivating imperial armies to help defend against barbarian
invasions, remember - you are trying to drag the battle into going set
piece, rather than open field. By staggering the placement of your
defensive armies, ideally, you will want to place them in such a way
that more than one defensive imperial army can cover any of your
provinces. This way, no matter where you get invaded, you will have
that province's provincial troops, as well as the troops in 2 or more
defensive imperial armies, available to intercept and respond to the
barbarian invasion.
(21) If you get a chance to attack a province that an active barbarian
imperial army is located in, seize that opportunity. A minimum strength
invasion army (8 troops) is the bare minimum needed. You will want to
assign a capable military commander, if you have one, and try to get
set piece battle. The longer you can tie that barbarian army up in
their own province, or in someone else's province, the less you have to
worry about defending your own province when it invades you. Any single
barbarian army can't be everywhere at the same turn. Whether you win or
lose the battle, that's irrelevant. Your primary object is to inhibit
and impede the barbarians' mobility, and by doing so, it will have the
end result of degrading the barbarians' ability to conduct offensive
operations against you.
(22) If possible, try to persuade any allies that you might have to
assist you in sending one or more active imperial armies of their own
to help tie the barbarian invaders down. It is irrelevant whose troops
tie the enemy down. What matters is that you hamper their ability to
move against you. In order to achieve that, you must lock those
barbarian armies into set piece battles. That is the best way to hold
on to as much of your territory during an Ice Age against the
barbarians, as is possible. By locking them into set piece battles, and
especially where the barbarians want open field battles, you also gain
the benefit of screwing up their planning and timetables.
(23) Taking the barbarian nations out, or keeping them reduced in size,
over the course of the game leading up to the Ice Age is another way to
limit the damage one or more barbarian kingdoms can inflict upon your
kingdom, once the Ice Age hits. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound
of cure. This axiom is well worth heeding, if you expect to possibly
fight the barbarian kingdoms during an Ice Age in your game of Hyborian
War.
(24) If you can persuade one or more barbarian kingdoms to ally with
you, your headaches may be over, or at a minimum, severely reduced.
(25) If you can persuade the barbarian kingdoms to go somewhere else,
and attack someone else, then that is less that you have to worry
about. The single best diplomat available to your kingdom is you - not
any superior diplomacy diplomat characters.
(26) If you can persuade the barbarian kingdoms to fight each other, then that will
leave them with less resources and armies available for attacking you.
(27) Barbarian kingdoms can assign troops through anyone else's
provinces, during an Ice Age, regardless of whether they are allied or
not to the kingdoms controlling the provinces between their capital and
their outlying armies.
(28) Successfully fighting and defending against barbarian invasions
during an Ice Age is rarely a hopeless cause. Give credit where credit
is due, but do not over-exaggerate a threat from barbarian kingdoms. Of
course they will threaten you, and try to kow you. Once you are scared
of them, half of their job is already done. If you surrender without a
fight, you've lost, already. If they want to take your kingdom from
you, make them earn it. Who knows? You might just surprise yourself,
and them, as well! They can't take a single kingdom with all of their
words, combined.
(29) Take a closer look at that barbarian blowing all of that smoke,
and you may just find that they are a paper dragon, and not the monster
they might at first seem to be.
I hope that you find these Ice Age tactics helpful to you, regardless
of whether you are playing a barbarian kingdom during an Ice Age, or
whether you are trying to defend against one or more barbarian kingdoms
during an Ice Age period.