Page 1 of 1

General strategy

Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 4:25 pm
by Cyan.
One of my main rules is, I mostly play DOM, KOTH and CTS, only attack whenever you are sure to win, in other words don't waste any Mutiwinias at a battle you are sure to lose.

There are however several exceptions; attack with a small group a large group in the hope grenades will benefit the ulitmate score of loses, attact formations with small groups from all sides, and attack in order to keep someone from taking a spawn in a certain time, and keeping someone busy in other words hoping someone will use to may troops to eleminate your small group.

This strategy speaks pretty much for itself and I think its crucial to estimate the right amount of troops you will need to win or accomplish one of the above goals.
Find an enemies weak spot and attack just with enough force to win while maintaining a battle somewhere else can be a devastating blow for a enemy, visa versa sending all your reinforcements to a battle you are losing is just suicide.

I hope people will share some of there strategies and what they think is best to do, also I would like to hear some estimates about troop forces odds to win or lose etc. and what kind of advantages can be taken from the terrain.

Hope to see you at the multiplayer lobby, I am mostly intrested in co-op play so feel free to contact me when you're intrested in co-op too and want to find out best possible plays for the different co-op maps.

Cyan

Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:28 pm
by Cyan.
Another important thing in the modes described above is mass, with it comes the skills to manage your masses in a sensible way. This is particulary important when you have fewer spawns then your opponent.

I will try to explain some general strategies, concerning terrain and masses, I use(d) when playing Multiwinia.

To skillfully manage your masses I think the terrain is a key factor, because the terrain determines how you have to use your troops and especially your masses.


Distances

First of all you should look at the various distances. For example the distance between your spawn and that of the enemy or between your spawn and your main troops. You should not underestimate this, its somewhat like chess I think.
This way you can determine chances and hazards, by looking at the various troop positions. When looking at masses you can decide whether a frontal attack would be better or a indirect attack would be more apropriate. Keep in mind that how shorter the distance of your troops is to a key point the less chance there is your enemy will see your move coming.

As last its key to deploy your troops there where they can defend themselves as key points and from wich point they can attack the enemies weak spots when available.


The Terrain

Terrain is important in several ways, first of al the ease of the terrain is important because it determines the speed movement of your troops.
Second hills or valleys can be used to "hide" your troops and launch surprise attacks, keep also in mind that a formation attacking downhill is a strong weapon against lots of troops.
The terrain is also an excellent defensive tool for example by creating choke points you can defend against a much larger mass, afcourse not indefenitely, so again make sure your troops can be reinforced (quickly) with other troops, not just from spawns. This way you can even turn an attack, at a choke point, around, surprising your enemy.
When looking at the terrain you can also decide where to concentrate or divide your troops, in this you also have to take the enemy forces in comparison.

In short try to use the terrain in your advantage, I hope also tha new maps will be more aware of ths and maybe there will even come a patch that give greater terrain bonusses.


I have stopped playing for a while, just began again and I would love to play again with a player called Morbid, so if you are that person please pm.

I also hope some of you have some other intresting views to share and post them here, cya all in the multiplayer lobby.

Cyan

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 1:58 pm
by Cyan.
A short note on micro-management.

Micro-management is mostly important during the beginning of the game, where a game is often won or lost in my experience. Especially when considering spawn points.

I know a short story that would best illustrate this strategy, it goes like this

An advisor tells his king that he will be able to win a best of three horse race against a neighbouring king. The king agrees and bets a 100 golden coins that he wins.
The advisor looks at the horses of the king and that of the neighbouring king and tells the king: "Let your worse horse race against his best, your best horse against his second best, and you second best horse against his worse horse".
The king listen to this advise and thus happens he wins a 100 golden coins.


Pardon my bad english


To translate this to micro-management, either attack with a large enough group against a weaker group of him or attack (keep busy) with a small group a large group of him.
Also it helps when attacking a group of mwg from multiple angels.

I don't now why nobody is posting his tactics or strategies, but I hope they will because in the end we'll all have a beter fight and more fun.


Cyan

Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 5:10 pm
by Cyan.
The Achilles' heel of the spawn

The more experienced players will obviously have noticed that a small group of even 5-10 mwg's can take out a spawn when not defended properly.
So for the less experienced players I'll try to explain how this can be done and how best to defend against a spawn attack, because I conquer spawns sometimes pretty easily and this criples the rest of the game, so in my view this is a crucial gameplay element that you have to master.

To start, a spawn is occupied by 5 mwg's, the minimum to start a spawn is 3 mwg's. Logically when you kill 3 of the 5 mwg's your spawn will be dead.
The best way to kill an undefended spawn is going around the back, this means that you are behind the portal where the mwg's come out, and start killing the mwg's occupying the spawn 1 by 1. When doing this you shouldtake account of when the last troop of reinforcements was send.
This last thing is important because if you can kill the spawn before the new reinforcements has arrived you are obviously in an advantage.

When attacking a defended spawn you mainly do the same except this time you should concentrate a larger group of mwg's to attack your opponents main forces and send a smaller troop to the side that is least defended.


Defending a spawn is probably even more important, because when you conquer a spawn its not always granted that you'll win CTS or less clear KOTH, but when you lose a spawn its quite clear that you'l lose the game too, unless your way ahead and time is running out afcourse.

So the tactic I mostly use to succesfully defend a spawn is countering the tactic described above, this especially works when defending against a larger group of mwg's.
Key is to concentrate your mwg's to the back of the spawn and make sure you cover 3 of your mwg's and when necessary can fill up one of the empty spots. This works very well against larger troops because it will take them more time to kill your spawn and thus you have more time to waite for reinforcements coming from your spawn or the field.
Another tactic used is to create a formation upfront of your spawn, mine opinion is that this is mainly handy when the attacking forces are still far away and not much biger then your own group.

Defending a spawn against an armour drop is whole other story, but in short you could say that when suspecting an armour drop, the best thing to do is to draw as many forces as you can miss to the targeted spawn and shoot with formations at the attacking forces while making sure that atleast 3 of your mwg's are reasonably covered.


So why is this so important? Well in short because every mwg counts. More extensive, when a spawn is killed it takes quite some time to start it up again because your mwg's will first try to kill all enemies around the spawn and only after that they will start up the spawn. So when you are taking this to lightly and you're sending to few mwg's to your dead spawn, you will be surprised how long it takes to start the spawn again. Seond while you're worrying about your spawn the enemy will attack you somewhere else were he has a defenite advantage, esecially if your not paying attention.


Its great to see so many demo players around and I hope you all enjoy it, good luck.

Cyan

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 6:16 pm
by Cyan.
Attack as the outburst of water

To begin with I write this done because I was inspired to by Neo1000, I saw him using the the strategy I willl try to describe. Important to know is that this strategy is best applied to a multiplayer game. Personally I never really tried it and its not really my play style, I don't know whether Neo1000 uses it more often or not, but its for certain that it can be a good strategy and it never hurts to know.

The main thing about this strategy is saving up your forces, and attack at mass when your enemy is weakened like I tried to describe in the titel.
To use someone else's words; Make yourself invincible in the defense, and waite for your enemy to become vunarable.

This pretty much says it all, tho there are a few important things, I think, when using this strategy.
First of all you should not become behind to much in the number of spawns. In 1 vs 1 I think 2 spawns behind is the maximum you should go to depending on the map. In multiplayer this can be more because the enemy will sely foucs his attacks at spawns that are more easily to take over.
Second of all look invincible by spreading your forces out wide in the area of you home spawn, this way it looks like there are more of them and they are less easily destroyed by grenades, formations, air strikes etc. When you have gathered enough troops set up a solid defense, using the terrain. Also send some individual mwg's upfront of your formattions and your defense, when the enemy tries to attack in mass, chances aree they throw some grenades severely hurting your enemy.

So this is pretty mch your defense. Next thing on your list should be trying to influence the game the way you want. This can be done in several different ways. But in general this will be done by using your forces in a certain way. For example yellow and green are both fighting for a spawn, you rather see yellow taking it because green is already to big and is closer to you then yellow. Obviously you want to help yellow and attack green, but his must be done with a minium loss of your troops. So I recommend a small troop that will go to and undefended spawn from green and attacked in the way I describe in my post above. Either green temporarely loses a spawn or he will draw fire power to it relieving yellow of some exra troops. You also can decide that the fight must continue carefully balancing your attacks at both sides.
Other ways of influencing the game is by chat, for example convincing opponents to do something or by diplomacy.

Now perhaps the most important of this strategy the attack. In general you could say that you could best attack when the timer is running out making sure your opponents have no time anymore to launch a counter-offensive. But even more important is attacking when your enemy is vunarable and you are sure you have enough fire power to keep the conquered spawn, circle etc. The more your opponents fight each other the better it is for you and the weaker they will get over time. When attacking in mass you should always still be prepared for counter attacks or for attacks from another player. I also suggest that you will not attack in a wave ridiculously larger then your enemy because grenades may decimate this in no time, better is it to attack in several ways of 2 sizes your enemy.
A last note, when using this strategy its best to find a center spawn at the beginning from wich you can attack a lot of enemy spawns, this way you really can pick your best shot(s).

I hope people are really reading what I write and they enjoy it, if you have questions, comments or anything else please open another topic, but I would love to see someone elses strategies in this topic.

Cyan

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:53 am
by allen
My general tactics are to rush on certain maps or build an army wait for a nearby enemy to be vulnerable/busy and then attack. This usually depends on the map. on Koth I tend to camp a lot and try to get as many points from the get-go as possible.

I hate CTS and lose every time I do play it

Power ups add a craziness factor so my strategy changes. Don't really have a general strategy in Assaulting on assault maps but defending I use a lot of formations and I hoard my power ups. I usually "go with the flow", as it were.

I would guess no one is giving you their general strategies is because, when compared to Defcon, Multiwinia isn't as reliable on them. I rely more on Tactics than overall strategy in this game.

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:24 am
by Kuth
There are two very important things to remember when playing on some maps: Terrain, and troop positions.

Terrain is important in many ways because Gravity is still a constant, even in a digital world. It is easier for explosives and things to travel downhill, and rockets aimed at a cluster of DWs further away will strike the mountain sooner, killing the one firing the rocket. Also, it is faster to swarm downhill than it is uphill.

For these reasons, it is important to hold the high ground in any engagement. If possible put turrets up there to increase coverage.

When you are downhill from an enemy, only in the last resort should you charge uphill against them as a massed force. Instead, you should look for ways to circumnavigate the enemy and approach from the sides. Failing this, if sharp cliffs are your only answer, then divide your forces and ascend from two different directions. At worst, there is no change. At best, the enemy focuses fire on one cluster of your forces while the other manages to attack unmolested. This is the way one should attack a turret, with having at least one more group than there are turrets at a position.

Another factor of Terrain is trees. Trees not only obscure vision from the eye in the sky, but they are also a flame hazard. Heavy fighting in areas around trees will inevitably result in fires, which harm you and the enemy you are fighting. This is perhaps fortunate if it is an enemy spawn point, but bad if it is yours. When defending a spawn point with trees, either move your forces to one side of the trees or the other. Do not place them underneath.

Troop position is important because you can use troops to deceive the enemy of your intentions. The forked maneuver above works in other situations as well, not just uphill battles. Whenever possible, attack from more than one direction to force your opponent to favor one position or the other.

In some instances this can apply to objectives. In CTS for instance, feigning an attack on the statue will force the enemy to concentrate his forces there, allowing another force (Perhaps by APC) to take his under-defended spawn points in another location. This can be anything from ten men to an entire glob of MWs.

Also, keep in mind the objectives of a given scenario. For instance, in Rocket Riot, remember that the ultimate goal is to launch the rocket itself. So while your forces may be tangling over the solar power arrays, it may be prudent to drop troops on their rocket location to destroy it before they can amass Darwinians. For CTS, controlling the capture points or their recovery zones will deny them victory. Stealing statues from an opponent who has grabbed them from behind dark trees is also a prudent, if underhanded, tactic.

Another tactic is the surround. While your enemy may be taking spawn points closer and closer to your home territory, cutting off his advance by capturing a spawn point in between will not only force his hand to re-take it, but also pinch one side of the enemy force between two of your own forces, allowing a pincer attack as described above.

Finally, keep your power ups like aces in the hole. One idea is to save a turret until you have captured an important point. Placing the turret and allowing your MWs to man it will bolster it's defense. Any extras milling around contribute fire or grenades.

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 5:52 pm
by Cyan.
Attacking the Void, the attack is your best defense

A general strategy of mine lately is attacking free space, or more accurate occupying free space. Most important is occupying the free space on just behind your front line. I'll try to show you:

------you attacking------ +++ front line+++ =======enemy defending=====//////his spawns\\\\\\\

.....................

You have to occupy the space marked with dots, and look for gaps to his home spawns.
This is afcourse a schematic sketch of what I mean and MW is cetainly not schematic, but it tries to point out the "zone" wich you should try to occupy.

With occupying free space I mainly mean that you find a way around his lines of movement and orders and move your mwg's to the space between this lines. Sometimes its handy to just have them stand there but more often you can use them to disturb his defense threath his spawns etc.
By doing this you force your enemy to spread his troops and focus on a smaller area, all wich s good for you, because a bigger and thinner defensive line of him is easier to break for you. And how more populated an area is how more vunarable for grenades and such.

Also in mine opinion the attack is the best defense, tho I might only think this because I never really learned how to defend well.
As last I'll tell you a little secret, when you try to occupy a spawn in the beginning that is also contested by another player, move a small group of mwg's to his main line of movement and let them attack his next 40 mwg's coming from his spawn. This will buy you some time wich can be crucial in conquering the contested spawn. When you have conquered it always move your troops ahead of it so the spawn won't get killed by enemy grenades. Be carefull tho for encicrling movements of your enemy.
This tactic can also be applied to other things afcourse, figure it out.


Cyan.

Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:46 pm
by Cyan.
Another general strategy would be dividing up your forces. Even more spread you forces as thin s possible all around the offensive line and behind. This is helpfull in several ways, first thing, the enemy won't be able to launch surprise attack on your spawns without acp, whats even more, he'l probably never reach your spawn because he will be "caught" in a net of mwg's.
Another reson to use this strategy is becaus it gives you maximum advanatge in the use of grenades, big troops trying to cut a way trough your mwg's will most likely be hit with one or several grenades and when the enemy mwg's throw there grenades they will not inflict much damage against your spread out forces. This strategy is very effective against my other described tactics and strategies, so I am working on a new stratgey already, I'll keep you posted! :)

Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 3:51 pm
by aldaris
I noticed you do that last game, didn't do you much good with me never even touching your main base.
Also: cleanup formations.

Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 4:07 pm
by Cooper42
Two general approaches:
- Move quickly
- Move sensibly

On a 3 or more player map, I'll usually wait a few seconds to see where the others are moving, and then where they are not. Then, as soon as I can, I'll work to take over the less defended locations of the enemy.

In my experience, the player who expands fastest wins more easily. If you wait too long, you might have a larger attack force, but it'll be a tougher battle. better to strike quickly.

This applies for almost all game modes. Especially blitz, where moving sensibly is of upmost importance. That mode does not easily reward brash moves.

With CTS, it's sometimes worth considering attacking opponents' spawn locations. It's rarely worth trying this with KOTH, bar a specific few maps, as you'll be distracted from the point scoring zones.

Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 8:41 am
by Pylon_Trooper
Some great tips, guys. Keep them coming. I need all the help I can get, but even if I'm beaten into next week, it never loses that fun-factor.