What to train?

by ArcticWind

Your military is your first, last and primary line of defence against the brutal onslaughts other tribes could unleash upon your lands. Providing a strong defence for your lands and citizens is of vital importance in the often violent world of Orkfia. And for many players, attacking others will be the preferred way of growth. You need military for that, too.

For each race, the exact strength and training costs of the different military units varies. These values will be one of the most important factors in deciding which race you'll want to play. So make sure you understand how military works. You can't play Alliances At War without this knowledge. Each military unit has an offensive strength and a defensive strength. These values are often seperated with a "/". So for example the race called Uruk Hai has an elite unit with an offensive strength of 7 and a defence strength of 4. This units strength is usually expressed as (7/4).

For each race there is a different combination of units you should learn and train to have the best effect. As a general rule, higher values are better than lower ones, because you need fewer to attain the same amount of offense or defense. This leaves you with more citizens. It's also better to train your military in "pumps," or in large amounts all at once after saving up for the purchase, than in smaller amounts gradually.

IMPORTANT: Before training military you should cast (or ask an ally to cast) Fountain of Resu. Especially at small sizes this greatly lowers the cost of military. If the amount of units you train in a pump is great enough, barracks can be useful for the same purpose.

The soldier

The basic military unit is the soldier. Soldiers are trained from your civilian population. They have undergone basic military trained, but they aren't highly skilled. For most races they are of little use in combat. Yet they are the raw material from which a more efficient army is trained. Because once a citizen has joined your army and become a soldier, he can continue his training. You can choose which parts of the art of war he should focus on, giving you the option of building a flexible army to support your needs. A lowly skilled soldier can get four different types of military training, each resulting in a unique military unit. Soldiers can be instantly sold and bought on the alliance market. Training soldiers to sell on the market is helpful to your alliance.

The mercenary

Among the citizens of some races live capable people that will join your army for a limited time in return for money, these units are called mercenaries and can be called in in times of need. As they only stay with your tribe for a limited time their use is mostly for quick defence or on missions requiring just that little extra offence required to break your enemy.

The offensive specialist

Offensive specialists are trained in offence, and offence alone. Although for some races the offensive specialists can still offer a crude and not very effective defence in times of need, for most races the offensive specialists can do one thing and one thing only: attacking others. And usually they are very good at this.

The defensive specialist

Defensive specialists are warriors whose main task consists of defending your lands. Admittedly there are some races which like giving their defensive specialists an elementary training in offensive. But their role is always clear: They defend against attacks. And in this role they are often vital for the survival of your tribe.

The elite

Elites are the most extensively trained warriors in Alliances At War. Whether they are trained mainly in offence or mainly in defence depends on race, but usually they are quite capable of doing both.

The thief

Thieves can wreak havoc in enemy lands by sabotaging production or destroying buildings. And if you're lucky they can do this so stealthily the enemy doesn't even know where the attacks came from. Normally thieves do not fight in combat, but the information they provide with covert operations can often be very important for the outcome of a battle. Though for the Mori Hai it is possible to send them out on regular attacks.

The mystic

Mystics are units able to increase your mage level as a group by their mere presence. One mystic per acre of land will increase your mage level by 1. Mystic units may be trained in both offence and defence so they can also be sent on attacks, but beware as their absence from your tribe will also reflect in the absence of their combined mage level as defence against dark spells cast against your tribe.

Last updated: March 2011