02-03-2022, 01:41 PM
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 preemptive "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?
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 preemptive "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?