02-03-2022, 01:40 PM
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!
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!