02-03-2022, 01:37 PM
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!
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!