[Ikariam] Circvs Maximvs (CMAX) Alliance Discussion

**Nareau** · May 7th, 2008, 06:15 PM

Ikariam is a browser-based game. It's a lot like Civ IV, if it were a MMO. It is free to play, and still in its beta stages.

The Circvs Maximvs Alliance is on the Beta server.
CMAX Alliance Map

Spoiler:

Beginner's Resources

Spoiler:

Pillaging/Troops FAQ:

Spoiler:

Trading FAQ:

Spoiler:

General FAQ:

Spoiler:

Alliance FAQ

Spoiler:

Alliance Information and Links

{More to come}

Nareau

**FickleGM** · May 7th, 2008, 06:33 PM

Don't forget to mention Bashing, as well (if it was going to be part of the {More to come} then nevermind).

**Dire Wolf** · May 7th, 2008, 06:56 PM

Something else to note is action points. I assumed they just refreshed within a certain amount of time, I did not realize that you didn't get the action point back until the previous action was completed. Now I am stuck for quite some time without any action points waiting for some direct trades to complete.

**Enkhidu** · May 7th, 2008, 06:59 PM

Originally Posted by Dire Wolf

Something else to note is action points. I assumed they just refreshed within a certain amount of time, I did not realize that you didn't get the action point back until the previous action was completed. Now I am stuck for quite some time without any action points waiting for some direct trades to complete.

This is why using an alliance trade chain is useful. Instead of sending that shipment waaaaay across the map, send it to someone close, who send it to a nearer island, who sends it to your target. That way ships aren't out of port more than an hour or so, and you keep your action points. To sweeten the deal for the middlemen, have them take a cut on transactions to offset the # of ships they'd need and the upgrade costs for their town halls.

**octoberblu3** · May 7th, 2008, 07:11 PM

PAX map, and holy fuck is there a lot of them.

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showp...5&postcount=13

**diaglo** · May 7th, 2008, 07:12 PM

i've got a sulfur pit on my goddamn island. how the fuck do i research "wealth"?

i know it is supposed to be a good thing for my fucking military.

**Rodrigo Istalindir** · May 7th, 2008, 07:21 PM

Looking for marble in exchange for sulfur and/or wine.

**FickleGM** · May 7th, 2008, 07:36 PM

Originally Posted by octoberblu3

PAX map, and holy fuck is there a lot of them.

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showp...5&postcount=13

They look to be fairly big...

Tag.....................Members....Points
PaxMs....Pax Mercurius...9.........10,038,510
PAX......Pax et Aurum....4..........2,663,888
NPAX.....Pax Arcadia....60.........48,813,163
WPAX.....West Arcadia...22.........13,477,254

**Dire Wolf** · May 7th, 2008, 07:42 PM

Originally Posted by diaglo

i've got a sulfur pit on my goddamn island. how the fuck do i research "wealth"?

i know it is supposed to be a good thing for my fucking military.

Dude... read this, it will help:

http://ikariam.wikia.com/wiki/Beginner%27s_Guide

You have to research stuff in a chain, so you have to build an academy, reasearch conservation, then pulley and then wealth.

**derelictjay** · May 7th, 2008, 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by Rodrigo Istalindir

Looking for marble in exchange for sulfur and/or wine.

Read this wrong. Give me a while.

**Bubba** · May 7th, 2008, 08:01 PM

Hey Diaglo, make sure you build a warehouse. As soon as I have ships return from a current mission, I'll send you a little "getting started" package of resources, but you need a warehouse to hold your stuff.

**Mistwell** · May 7th, 2008, 08:21 PM

Mistwell's Military Advice:

Script Helpers

In general, you should use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer (or another browser) to play Ikariam. This is because Firefox allows you to use the Greasmonkey Add-On. And that add-on allows you to use various user-made scripts for Ikarium.

You can find a list of most of the scrips by going here. Be careful though, some are still buggy and in test mode, and some are in foreign languages, and some may not work well with each other. But, you can always uninstall a script if it doesn't work out, so you have some freedom to experiment.

In particular, I use the IkariamScoreLinker script (which shows you the military score of any city you click on, along with some other information.), and the Kronos Util script, which gives you an easy visual count-down on buildings being finished and your +/- on resources and people (so you know if you are about to reach the maximum on something, or falling too short, at a glance). I also use the IkariamServerLogin script to automatically log into the game once you choose your server rather than having to retype your name and password every time.

Defense

Over half of all attacks are against players chosen as a target simply because that target has a military score of 0 (as determined by scripts such as the above-mentioned IkariamScoreLinker).

For this reason, you absolutely need some sort of military. Even if it is just one single slinger, you need it, so that your score doesn't show up as a zero.

Next, you SHOULD build a Shipyard. This building is not to be confused the trading port (which you should also have, so you can build cargo ships to transport loot and trades, but it should not be anything more than level 1 for reasons I will mention below).

Using your shipyard, build at least one Ram-Ship. Yes, I know, it costs 20 gold in upkeep every hour. And at first that seems like a lot. But, in not too long a time that will seem relatively cheap. But most importantly, you need it. If someone who is not on your own island tries to attack you, 90% of the time your one little Ram-Ship will turn away their entire fleet of incoming attackers. Only if your opponent sends a blockade fleet ahead (far ahead, since it takes twice as long to get to you as a normal attack fleet) and defeats your Ram-Ship will they then be able to send in their ground troops. So, make that Ram-Ship. And eventually, you should have around three Ram-Ships, which will hold off all but the most devoted foe.

Next, remember when I mentioned your trading port should not be over level one? That is because, even if an attack gets through to you, and even if the attack is from your own island (hence bypassing your Ram-Ship), and even if you have tons of stuff to take, every enemy still has only 20 minutes for their people to automatically load loot onto their cargo ships before they have to leave. And the amount of loot they can loot from you is controlled by how big your trading port is. In this case, smaller is better. If you have a level 1 trading port, the maximum someone can loot from you is 200 goods (at least, in theory, and not counting gold).

Now onto the warehouse. You should have one. It has many benefits, not the least of which is the ability to protect some of your goods from being looted by foes. It also has future uses, since it allows you to hold more goods, and it will be necessary to have a big warehouse later in the game so you can hold the goods required to expand to an additional city/colony.

Now, let's say you are facing opponents who know what they are doing. You will want some actual ground defenses.

The first line of defense is your town wall. Your wall should be the same level as your Town Hall. If it is, you get a 10% bonus to your forces for each level of your wall/town hall. So for example if you have a level 5 Town Hall and town wall, you will have a 50% bonus to your forces. And believe it or not, that town wall alone can defend against an attacker even if you have no actual ground troops. I guess in theory the unarmed peasants of your town are still able to throw rocks at attackers from above, and that lets them defend a bit. They will not hold off a strong force, but they can hold off one slinger for example.

Now there will be times where you cannot keep your town wall up with your Town Hall. That's OK, just remember it doesn't provide nearly as good a bonus. Also, it does make you vulnerable to Ram attacks.

Rams are special forces that let you poke holes in opponent walls. For every Ram that pokes a hole in a wall, you get a 10% bonus to your attacking forces. Which means, if you are attack someone whose town wall is not the same level as their Town Hall (which, again, grants a lower bonus than 10% per level), then the attacker can actually gain an advantage over you from your own wall - since they can still poke holes in your wall up to the level of your wall, and gain 10% per hole they poke, but you as the defender will not be getting that same 10% per level defense bonus from the wall since your wall was not the same level as your hall. Makes sense? I hope so. Keep your wall the same level as your hall, and you will benefit the most from it.

Finally, on to defending troops.

Slingers are your most basic form of defense. They are not too bad either. Cheap to make, cheap to maintain, they will do in a pinch. But, I wouldn't plan on making them your primary attack or defending force.

For defense at lower levels, nothing beats the Phalanx. With that big 40 defense points, AND resistance special ability (30% defense bonus if you are on the defending side), the Phalanx is really the superior low-level defense force. Keeping just a few of them in your city, with a full town wall, should hold off all but the most determined attackers. You will, however, need the Professional Army research, and a level 4 barracks. So until you can build them, have some Slingers stay home.

Now lets say you notice you are currently under attack (by seeing incoming forces in your Military menu). What can you do?

There is a lot. First, go right to your barracks and start building slingers. They churn out fast, and are cheap, and you will be able to build a few in time for the battle if you hurry. Battles also can go on multiple rounds, so even if they are not ready for the first round, they may join a later round. So, get some of them going.

Second, you can probably send out some cargo ships to transport excess supplies to another one of your cities, or an ally. And, you can build something expensive. If you can get your goods down below the protected levels for your warehouse, your foe won't be able to loot anything.

Third, you can (though it's a bit risky) destroy your trading port. Destroying your port will limit looting to (in theory, according to the guides) 60 units maximum of loot (though maybe more in gold). And the port is cheap to rebuild. The only risk is you may want to receive or send out more goods before or during the battle, and you won't be able to if you destroyed your port. But, if you know you are done sending and receiving, go for it.

Fourth, you can always try some quick diplomacy. Send a message to your attacker nicely asking them to turn their forces back, and mentioning that you are a member of the CircvsMaximvs alliance of about 30 members across the world. Sometimes, that will be enough to avoid the conflict all together.

Finally, you could always counter attack. Your attackers forces will mostly be absent, since they are on the way to you. So if you send a counter-attack quickly, you will likely face a much depleted defense.

Attack

Attacking uses most of the information you learned from defending. There are really only a few things you need to know.

First, at the beginning you should be choosing targets with a 0 military score, as shown to you by using the IkariamScoreLinker.

Choice of target is important. Keep in mind the following factors:

1) How far away are they? Cities on your own island are only 20 minutes away (and another 20 for looting, and another 20 for the return trip, for a total of 1 hour). And, you don't need to worry about their ships. Of course, that means they are only 20 minutes from you if they want to retaliate, and they already are mining the same resource that you are mining.

2) What resource are they mining? If you are in need of Crystal for example (to build up your Academy), you should be choosing a Crystal Island (as indicated by the blue icon on your map showing a crystal).

3) What level is the city you are attacking? Even cities with a 0 military can defend against you using their town wall, and if their town wall is a high level, their defense can be higher as well. I have attacked a level 10 town for example with 0 military and lost a couple of Swordsmen. So, at first try and keep your attacks to cities with level 1-6 or so, if you can. But later, do not be afraid to attack even up to level 16, if they have 0 military and you have enough forces (like 4-6 Swordsmen for example).

4) Is the city you are attacking a member of an alliance, or someone who has a lot of friends? You can tell if they are a member of an alliance simply by clicking on them, and sometimes their name similarity to other names in the region gives away that they are friends of someone else. In general, I tend to not attack people who have many allies, unless I am up for a fight.

Next question is what forces to send. Early in the game, you will want to use two Slingers. Why two? Because any attack against an undefended town will still kill one Slinger. A little later one, you should be using Swordsmen. Swordsmen have a big 18 attack bonus, plus the Assault special ability that gives them a 30% bonus if they are on the attacking side. You can generally safely send one Swordsmen to a city with a 0 military if they are level 1-6 or so without any losses.

If you are expecting a bit of a defense, it's not a bad idea to send some slingers along with your swordsmen. That's because kills are assigned randomly to your forces, and it's quite possible that a kill will be assigned to your sligger fodder instead of your swordsmen, leaving those bigger attack bonus swordsmen to fight on in a later round.

Finally, later in the game, you will want to use Archers for your primary attackers. They have a big 40 attack and 40 defense, making them good defenders at home as well as attackers.

And, if you expect resistance, a few of the afore-mentioned Rams to poke holes in the defender.

You will also (later), want to send a http://ikariam.wikia.com/wiki/Spiesor two from your hideout to find out exactly what you will be facing, if they have a military score higher than 0.

General Advice

Remember the anti-bashing rule by the way: Never attack the same city more than 6 times in a 24 hour period, unless you are at war with that person.

Remember that you have a limited number of action points, and each attack counts as an action. You won't get that action point back until your forces return (from a cargo ship run or an attack). So at the beginning of the game, each city has 2 action points. Once you build your town hall up to level 5, your city will get a third action point (and another at level 10, and every 5 levels thereafter).

Check your warehouse levels. Don't send out an attack to someone if you cannot handle the loot that is about to come back from it.

Check you have enough cargo ships to handle all the loot you make get. It sucks to hit a hit target successfully, needing 10 cargo ships or something, only to find all your ships are out on another mission.

One final note - it does not appear as if the bonuses you can research in your Workshop are actually functioning right now. So, I wouldn't waste my money improving forces quite yet, until they get that working. But once they do, it will be worth it to focus on one or two of your primary defense or attacking forces.

**Queen_of_Spades** · May 7th, 2008, 08:32 PM

can i post doubts about alliance and gameplay here?

(i know im still too small to be part of an alliance, but im working on it)

and, as asked:

queen_of_spades, Castle of Cards, Hinoios [6:24] - crystal

**Dire Wolf** · May 7th, 2008, 08:49 PM

Awesome post Mistwell... thanks for the tips!

**Nareau** · May 7th, 2008, 08:50 PM

Originally Posted by Queen_of_Spades

queen_of_spades, Castle of Cards, Hinoios [6:24] - crystal

Added.

Nareau

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