The toughest battle:
It took five months to conquer this state.
My strategies to conquer a state:
- Recruit the governor
- Recruit the generals
- Burn the rice
- Prevent retreat
- Prevent reinforcements
Recruit the governor
If it's possible to recruit the governor, it's possible to avoid the battle. This is the best approach.
Governors usually have high loyalty, but as long as it's not 100, it's possible to lower his loyalty.
Recruit the generals
It's usually possible to recruit generals away before the battle. This reduces the number of soldiers needed.
However, if there are many generals with very low loyalty (below 30), it's possible to go ahead to attack and wait for them to defect. It may take a while before they defect, though.
Burn the rice
Soldiers require rice. You can burn their rice so that they finished it during the battle. The victory is then yours.
Prevent retreat
I like to prevent retreat because any general who gets away usually get his army back.
Prevent reinforcements
It's best to prevent the enemy from sending reinforcements from another state.
Choosing generals
I look at power and intelligence.
First tier: power >= 85 and intelligence >= 70
Second tier: power >= 60 and intelligence >= 60
Third tier: power >= 60 and intelligence >= 40
Last tier: power >= 40 and intelligence >= 40
I do not send a general with power less than 40 into battle; they lose soldiers very quickly. Generals with intelligence less than 40 can be tricked very easily.
Although I don't look at naval capabilities, it makes a difference in winter. A non-naval general needs to wait for many turns before he is able to cross the river.
Battle Strategies
Terrain
Terrain doesn't seem to make a difference to attack and defense ability. It only affects mobility.
Surround attack
The best tactic is to surround a general and do a simultaneous attack. If you get 5 generals to surround him, it's like you attack him 25 times.
The governor is not special
The attacker does not win if he captures the governor. The governor is just another general. However, masters are special. If you capture the master, you win the battle.
Setting generals free
It's best to let a general free if he has high loyalty to his master. You can recruit him as a free general or after someone has recruited him.
Setting masters free
If you set a master free, he will most likely retreat to another state of his if it is adjacent. Some may choose to wander.
If the master is not able to retreat, he will remain in this state and the battle continues in the next month.
Commander gets attacked first
The AI always favour attacking the commander. Don't get the commander surrounded by enemy generals, so their simultaneous attacks will drain the commander's soldiers very quickly.
Beware of desperate attacks
If the enemy is running low on rice, he will charge your commander. That's because if the attacker loses his commander, the attacker has lost the battle.
(void *) &NHY;