k, so during the christmas vacation i'm going to write a general guide to warlight strategy, mainly general and ME.

i might need help with other maps, i know the roman map (small one famous for 3V3s) and ME well, but if you're good at other common maps feel free to volunteer here.

I'll definitely need help with multiattack strategy, i just got completely owned by awesomeguy in the rsp VS warlighters challenge :P

It'll be pretty detailed, i'll try to organize it so its easy to find your way around (for example a "picks" category etc.)

Please let me know if this has been done before, so i don't work for nothing. i saw the guide on the warlight forum (or whatever it's called) but its a little short, even though it gives pertinent information.

I'm trying to make this impartial, for example for the "old triple pick" i'll link the topic on the forum so people can decide for themselves

That is a very good idea, my old 3vs3 europe guide (I guess you are referring to it talking about guide on warlight forum) needs an update. I think if I were to write it now and I had plenty of spare time I'd write ~100 pages more less, so I agree, it is short. Since you are willing to do it I'd give you a few tips:

1) I recomend similar structure to my guide, it keeps writing focused and later easy to navigate (I lack a few sections for example cards).

2) I'd encourage to copy tactics section and expand on it a bit (I think what I wrote back than is still viable and satisfies the topic in 80-90%). I'd also recommend making custom scenarios to highlight specific tactics (I wan't a member before so I tried to search previous games for them).

3) Incorporate game theory, mixed strategies, dominating strategies etc. to explain most of the decision process in the game (it makes it as impartial as it can be).

4) Try to invent/introduce several data points that'd point players towards a specific type of strategy (for example base income divided by average income/territory ratio in bonuses as a guideline to how it affects expansion/attack decisions)

5) Don't try doing a strategy guide on multiattack, you can only gloss over it since multiattack distorts gameplay heavily (game theory language would explain easily why).

6) If you want to do it right, set aside a lot of time, since making it comprehensive and general will require a lot of work (as i mentioned, a general guide would require ~100 pages, similar to game theory dissertations).

7) Have someone proofread before publishing or make it a joint effort. Untill new year I won't have time, but I was planning to do an update on my guide next year, though not sure which month ;)

8) If you want general guide, do NOT make specific sections for different maps, only provide examples, but do not focus on specific map topography (one of the mistakes I made before)

Good luck, a work following my tips could be considered an actual academic paper on game-theory if done right.

Oh, and one more idea I had in my mind:

9) Make a walight a,b,c,d test afterwards asking about specific situations, move orders, deployment etc.

Btw. if there are guys willing to make a joint effort that are both good players and know basics of game theory I'd be willing to make a complete warlight theory guide from January till ~March. Since I am busy atm I can't promise anything, but I'd like to know who'd be willing to help me with it (probably most of the help would be proofreading and help with making custom scenarios etc.).

I think this is a great idea. New players like Billy Walsh and 69! ask very basic questions, there is a post right now "where can I find out more about how to play?" and the community has no good answer. I think the level of ladder play could be raised significantly if everyone was told a handful of basics straight out of the gate.

Ask piggy was a nod at beginning something, but I don't know if I am the one to write a guide. I do not honestly know if anyone would read it.

I have a "play book" word file that is atm 12 'chapters' and growing rapidly. I started it because it was getting boring of having to rethink the same thoughts every time I had a map that followed a certain pattern. It also helps me keep track of offbeat picking strategies. It could probably be turned into an "advanced picking strategies" guide.

Szeweningen - take a look at the clan chat.

sorry, but when have i asked very basic questions?

Haha, I don't remember. Have I upset you a little bit? I'm sorry, there is nothing wrong with asking basic questions.

That question itself was pretty basic.

Thanks for the ideas everyone, i'll keep those in mind (i wrote this before getting them, might edit it a little)

This is a beginner's guide, so it is made for new players to learn the basics. it's just a general idea of how to play the game, i'm trying to make it simple, and not overwhelming, if you think anything should be added or moved to the advanced section please let me know.

Beginner:

A: Deployment
1)Always put the combined amount of picks that will be gotten by all players to avoid getting random picks
-example: in strategic 1V1, take 6 picks.
2)Never pick in a wastelanded bonus for any reason, even to take another bonus first turn. it will handicap your spreading too much.
3)Start by taking small bonuses, big ones might be tempting but they'll take a lot longer, so are not worth it.

B: Spreading
1)Never try to take a bonus with a wasteland in it, you may want to take a territory in it to sabotage or travel to another bonus though.
2)Spreading is about taking full bonuses, not individual territories. Some territories are not worth it.
3)Exact success chance depends on luck settings, but attack 2 with 4 or 3 (higher risk) and 4 with 7 usually.

C: Fighting
1)Bre

maybe some of us could make a role playing guide for certain games like spheres of influence like the dos and donts of roleplay

misclicked there lol

C: Fighting
Most of fighting is about predicting your opponent's moves
1) Break enemy bonuses, you only need 1 territory in there for him not to have it.
2) Only attack if you think you will have more armies, preferably at least twice as many, as your opponent when the attack happens
3)Sabotage enemy bonuses by taking a territory near them, threatening to break them
4)Defend your bonuses by putting the right amount of armies on your borders, predicting sabotage, and guessing how many armies and where your opponent will choose to attack

hellbender, you need this guide badly. read it, don't post here, we're trying to make it and you're certainly not qualified... (last time i checked you had a 4% win rate in 1V1, seems you hid your stats since then though)

now its like 25%

show us, that's waay to obvious a lie. please don't spam here any more, it's supposed to be a serious thread to help people

im good at roleplay jus not 1v1 this is my last post sorry

My Mrs is good at roleplay, but cant play Warlight for toffee.

And you guys freak out when mastermind insults hell bender? He only made a suggestion to help. Anyways, sounds interesting. Maybe you can ask fizzer if he can post the guide (if you want) on warlight so newcomers can learn some basic strategies on major maps (medium earth strategic 1v1, europe 3v3, etc)

Warflowvet, it seems you have not read what is already made before posting:

http://wiki.warlight.net/index.php/Advanced_Strategy
This is why I think making beginner's guide is redundant imo (in the beginning I thought you wanted to make a general warlight guide for all levels). Have you read my guide before? I'd strongly suggest to use the structure I proposed there since the chapters are built naturally and you can expand on every sub-chapter in any way you want (I listed what you can do to make it as general as possible). For example deployment should be the chapter where you use game theory most (micromanagement is a fundamental example of dominant strategies in some cases). Spreading should be explained in terms of map balance to incorporate team games later. Fighting should be divvided into many sub-chapters, so you should be more specific about what you want to do. If you want a beginners guide, expand the wiki page I linked, it has a lot of advise with little explanation which is perfect for beginners. If you want a general guide for all levels of playing one way or another you'll have to incorporate similar structure to the one I proposed for practical reasons.

http://wiki.warlight.net/index.php/Strategic_1_v_1

Or expand on this if you want only strat 1v1 beginners guide. In any case definitely figure out what type of guide would you like to write before starting, then propose a chapter division here and we can comment on/help you with it.