XSI's Strategy Articles: PreGame Evaluation

[XSI Addict 32]

I understand that there are other strategy articles out there right now, namely those contributed by a man I find as a great influence, UPC. From what I've read from his, and other people's articles, they seem to focus on in battle choices. I, myself, am one of those people who lays in bed at night, obsessing over every possible detail I think could happen in the match I have setup for the next day. Anyway, I find it easier to compose my thoughts, and sleep at night for that matter, if I wirte them down. So to the sleepless and obsessive community, I present my Pre Game Evaluations Series: Part 1 Army Speed and Map Grabbing:

Pre Game Evaluation: Army Speed and Map Grabbing

The first thing you should do when starting a game of HS, is examine the map. Ignoring any objectives that might be in place, you should find the key locations on the field. Such areas would be the highest elevated spot on the map, areas where glyphs have been placed, or choke points. Next, you should look for the most vulnerable points on the map. Places where there is little to no elevated area, spots without cover, or water and lava fields. Something to keep in mind though, is that key points on a map not only differ from map to map, but also from army to army. A highly elevated spot is great for a range heavy army, but if you are using a melee heavy army, you want a forest, some ruins, some roads, basically anything to speed you up, and keep the enemy from shooting you. Find the best and worst places on the map for your particular army.

The next step is to do the same thing you just did, but for your opponents army. What kind of army do they have? What area on the map will it work best on? Where will it be weakest? In some cases this is more important than areas that are good for your army. Using a previous example...If you set your 4th Mass Line up on the highest elevated spot, but your opponent is sitting 2 spaces out of your range with Syvaris, your 4th Mass won't be very good. The best offense is a good defense. Find the points on the map where your opponent can function well. Take those points as soon as possible. Find the spots where your opponent can't work well, how can you force him into them? These are the things you should start every match by thinking about.

The next step is to add objectives into the equation. Is the objective to protect a certain point on the map? Or does it involve something more complicated? Whatever the objective is, you should find the key points for it on the map.


Now you should have found 3 important spots on the map:

1.) Where your army can work the best.

2.) Where your opponent's army can work the best.

3.) The most crucial point in the scenario.

All 3 of those are important, but some are more important than others. The most important part of any strategy game is to control the tide of battle. Luck aside, usually the best army, or the more efficient army controls the match. By control, I mean where and when the battles take place. Typically, the player in control also has the advantage. Ideally, if you can take the 2nd choice area early in the game, you force your opponent to react and change strategy. Next, you want to gain control of the important areas for the scenario, and lastly, your own areas. Now, if one spot on the map falls into 2 or more of those categories, then that area is crucial to your victory. It is imperative that you gain control of it.

Ok, so you've found the most important spot on the map. You know what you want to do once you get there, and that you can win if you can hold it. One problem, how are you going to get there? This is possibly the most important part of your pre game evaluation. Whose army is faster? There are 3 ways to judge speed:

1.) Area of effect, or the maximum move plus range an army can get out of 3 order markers. How much space can it cover in one turn?

2.) Bonding. How many extra turns does an army get out of its order markers?

3.) Mass vs. Move. How many order markers does it take to move the entire army?

If an army is running something like vipers, Carry units, or flying units, in many cases, it will have a larger area of effect than its opponent. The same goes for ranged units with 7 or better range.

If an army is using zombies, orcs, knights, or any other army that is heavy on the extra turns, they will often be moving in a horde, or everywhere in thin groups. These armies are not necessarily fast, but they can cover large areas in very little time.

If an army is small enough, or bonding efficient enough to use every unit with 3 order markers, then that army can be considered really fast.

When trying to decide whose army is faster, look at it like this: The most important part is the 3rd choice. If the army can utilize all of its points in one turn, than it is pretty quick. Next you should look at its area of effect. Even if the army can use all its units in one turn, if it only move 4 spaces, and has 1 range, its not much of a threat. Lastly, how well does it use its order markers? 6 turns off 3 order markers is much better than 3 turns. However, most of these armies either function as large, slow moving hordes, or a couple of small, independent strike forces. If your army beats the opponent in area of effect, and at least one other category, it is safe to say your army is faster.

Assuming your army is faster (I'll cover what to do if it's not later), you should look at the chances of you being able to take and hold the most important point on the map. How likely is it that you could get to the given area, get setup, and be ready for your opponent, before he gets there? Does your rush up to the point temporarily put your guys in a bad position? What if your opponent goes around the key point, and cuts you off, could you survive that fight? Many players will tell you that it takes range, or it takes attack, or defense, or whatever. They could be right, they could be wrong. But none of them can deny the sheer power that having the advantage of speed can give you. If you have speed, rush! Take the high points, take the choke holds, take whatever you want, your opponent won't even be out of the starting gate.

Now, if you happen to have a slower army, don't worry about, you can handle this. You should accept that your opponent is probably going to beat you to the best spots on the map. You need to consider whether or not you can fight him for them. Are you prepared to fight the up hill battle? Keep in mind that the faster units in the game also happen to be the weaker units. If you're packing something massive, you can often force your opponent off the major points.

The two biggest parts of HS are the map and the order marker. If you have better control of both, you have a good shot at winning. There are some situations, where the above pre game strategy won't fit your needs, but for the most part it will. As a quick recap:

Find the key points on the map.
Are they important enough to risk over extending yourself?
Can you beat your opponent to the area?
Can you hold it in a fight?
How could you take it back if gets there first?

Lastly, remember, luck is a big part of the game. Don't be surprised if your first strategy doesn't go as planned. Always have a back up. Where do you fall back to if you get forced out of the key objective? Always have a back up plan. Be prepared for your best guy to go down. Deal with it, and roll with the punches.

Comments?

[nonexistantnonexister]

nice job XSI i use it. oh yea and when can i come over havnt had a good hs opponent in ages.

[teekay]

Thanks for the article. In particular, I like your assessment of how to determine an army's movement.

You make a good point--one that is often overlooked in my youthful play group--is over-extending oneself. Reaching a Glyph and having the support to hold on to that Glyph are two different things.

I look forward to more.

[Chimpy]

Brilliant! One more reason to justify a large G'nator/Nakita army. Nice article XSI.

[XSI Addict 32]

I was thinking about part 2, and I can't decide on either going into more detail about Extending Yourself to Reach an Objective, or A First Glance of the Enemy Army. I intend to write both at one point or another, but I only have so much free time. I was hoping to have each article build on the previous ones. In which case, A First Glance of the Enemy Army would proably be better. Either could work, and I'm also open to any suggestions for future articles about pre, durring or post game thoughts.
Thanks for the support.

~XSI, who hopes his horrid spelling doesn't make them too hard to read.

[markwars]

I'd love to see "A First Glance of the Enemy Army".

[ChilliDog]

Excellent Article so far! I'm printing it out so I can read it as I go lay down and try to sleep myself. I'll comment more in the morning...err...afternoon (it's 6am )

I personally would like to see "Extending Yourself to Reach an Objective," although considering you're writing both I guess it doesn't matter

And teekay, I realized the same thing when I read that. It happens all the time, my brother gets on the glyph and no sooner is shot down. I think I'm going to (re)read this over to him tomorrow as well, to get him thinking strategy as well. Maybe then I'll be able to get a decent game going (I have no serious players to scape with)

Thanks again XSI, fantastic article!

[markwars]

Tagged for the 5ive.

[XSI Addict 32]

Wow, this is a HUGE honor. I really appreciate this.

On a side note, I've decided to go with A First Glance of the Enemy Army. Then, building on that will be Extending Yourself to Reach an Objective. I'll start working on the first as soon as possible.

Thanks again Markwars.

~XSI, whose decision on the order was in no way related to the news Markwars gave.

[Aldin]

Pretty solid, XSI - I enjoyed the read. You focused on exactly the three key areas that are easy to overlook, but shouldn't be:

1) Map analysis
2) Percent of army than can be activated in one round
3) Area of Effect

Since it looked like you would appreciate constructive criticism I have a few comments as well:

-I would have loved to see a single example box illustrating each point. You tossed a few pieces in, but I thought you might consider something along the lines of:

Originally Posted by Area of Effect

For example, an Arrow Grut army is fighting a Sir Gilbert led Knight army. Which has the greater Area of Effect(AoE)? This one is a bit tricky because while we can calculate the Arrow Grut area exactly (move + range = 12, nine (8+1) for the Swog), Sir Gilbert keeps us from determining the exact Area for the Knights. Still, the majority of the time Sir Gilbert's boost will be from 0-3 and we can feel comfortable assigning an upper limit of 3 for a total AoE of ~8 (move + range + bonus). This tells us that the Arrow Gruts have the speed advantage.

-Along the lines of the previous note I would have really appreciated more numbers. How high does a height need to be to be effective? How much does your AoE need to exceed theirs to be considered faster? What percentage of your army should you be able to use in a single round? Those types of things.

All-in-all an excellent piece of work. I'm pretty excited about getting my first glimpse at the enemy army soon

~Aldin, copying XSI's tilde thing

[XSI Addict 32]

Originally Posted by Aldin

Pretty solid, XSI - I enjoyed the read. You focused on exactly the three key areas that are easy to overlook, but shouldn't be:

1) Map analysis
2) Percent of army than can be activated in one round
3) Area of Effect

Since it looked like you would appreciate constructive criticism I have a few comments as well:

-I would have loved to see a single example box illustrating each point. You tossed a few pieces in, but I thought you might consider something along the lines of:

-Along the lines of the previous note I would have really appreciated more numbers. How high does a height need to be to be effective? How much does your AoE need to exceed theirs to be considered faster? What percentage of your army should you be able to use in a single round? Those types of things.

All-in-all an excellent piece of work. I'm pretty excited about getting my first glimpse at the enemy army soon

~Aldin, copying XSI's tilde thing

You bring up some interesting points. Since I'm having a writer's block regarding my current article, I think I may look into solid numbers. I think it would definately help with army construction, though I'm not sure how easy it would be to calculate that kind of data durring a match.

~XSI, wondering if Aldin is ok with him copying his end of post line format.

[markwars]

Bring on the numbers then. I love seeing the math.