Studius NEW guide to troops!!

Forget everything I said in previous posts. Build Ursa Berserkers. The end.

So, I log on to GoR and find this curious message. My apothecary is a pile of rubble for some reason and give this message when selected.

My barracks are shrinking!!

Whats with my lvl 10 Barracks? 

Power of ballistas1

From a recent attack. Note: I had Jovian thunder active :)

Rome wasn't build in a day, and neither was my PhD

Surprising to anyone that actually reads this blog, I am near the end phases of my PhD. This means I am working constantly to make my adviser think I am working constantly. Just kidding. Actually, my work load has made GoR take a back seat to writing, data, collection and more writing. Thus, I am taking a break from GoR. I still maintain my domains, but I'm not able to devote time to blogging or playing during this time of summer.

I'll be back, however. Rome is in my blood!

-Studius Maximus

Studius' Guide to Troops: Part 3 How do I start?

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

I have an elaborate system that I have developed to explain troop building--interdependence of game elements; contingencies: game play style, stage of the game, among other things. But, its just too much information and complexity. So, rather than provide a theoretical treatment of troop building philosophy, I thought I would just explain the basics based on typical questions I have seen. Here is the first one:

Q1: I'm new to GoR, I have some basic buildings done--I'm about 200-500k glory-- and I need to start training troops. What should I build?

First you will need to build conscripts. At low glory, all things being equal, you are a prime candidate for farming. Conscripts are a great defensive stop against marauding cavalry, which are the main farming troop. Because most folks send 90k cav when farming, you need at least 90k cons-in each city. Eventually, you will want more, but for now, that will have to do because you need to build other troops at the same time (see below). Also, cons will be needed to take wilds to improve your resource production in your city. Cons are just a good bang for the buck--I have seen folks with 3mil cons in one city! While I wouldn't recommend that, just know that cons are a pragmatic troop. But, don't JUST build cons... that is a major mistake.

Second, you will need to build transports of some kind. I would recommend donkeys--yeah, they are slow, but they are a good start. The reason is you might need to transport resources to or from your cities--either to consolidate resources or get them out of a city under attack. About 5-10k donkeys is ALL you will ever need. Don't over do it!

Second and a half, you will need wagons, start building 50-200 at a time. They aren't critical at this stage, but you will be very happy you have them later on. Just build a few per batch, it doesn't seem like much, but 1000 wagons carries 10mil resources. Always keep these hidden or reinforcing a nearby wild!

Third, after a healthy amount of cons and transports, or at the same time, start building tier 2 troops in this ratio: 4:2:1-- Skirmishers: Cav: Legs. My advice is when you have about 90k skirms, 45k cav and 22k legs, you can start on tier 3 troops.

This ratio is designed to get you offensive/defensive power and some farming troops. Skirm and legs are your offense/defense, while cav are for farming. After that, or during these builds, start throwing 250-500 centurions into the queues.  Having 10k cents to back up your cons and legs is a major benefit.  This approach could be thought of as a 8:4:2:1 Skirm:Cav:Legs:Cents ratio--but the point is I wouldn't start tier 3 until you have a large and steady supply of resources either from alliance or from your own farming. Building scorps and shock doesn't make a lot of sense until you have a good strong base of tier 2 troops. That is my opinion.

Once you are at about 1.2 mil glory, including 180k cons (assuming 2 cities), 20k donkyes (or 1000 wagons), 90k skirm, 45k cav, 22k legs and 5-10 cents, its time to go to the next stage of building.

Side Note: Of course, you can build all you want, then some jerk comes a long with 90k skirm and wipes out your army. It happens. But, the more and better troops you have, the less likely you will be hit. If you want to build troops with out fear of losing them from attackers, keep them hidden. But, you also need to consolidate all your troops in one city--there are exceptions, but this is your best bet. (Remember, for now keep cavalry and transports hidden or in a nearby wild).

Of course,whether to hide your main troops or not depends on if you are at war or in a top alliance. That choice is up to you!

Next time: I have basic troops... now what? Can I build ballistae???

Provinces from Glory of Rome

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