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This guide offers some ideas and suggestions that hopefully may help you wage an effective war. It's by no means the definitive guide, but will hopefully prove useful nonetheless.
The Most Important Rule
Don't become predictable. Although you may have preferred tactics, you should vary them round a bit as if an opponent knows what you're doing they can easily counter it. Many of the strategies listed below have their counters so if you use them for too long an opponent will get wise to it. You could always use this to your advantage by fooling them into predicting your your moves but doing something completely different to ruin their plans.
Declaring War
This first section will deal with declaring war on another tribe and choosing the best target.
Defending
This section explains about preparing your defences and holding the line effectively during war.
Attacking
This section offers some basic attacking tactics and planning ops
Ending a War
This section covers ways in which you can end a war
Espionage
This section offers ways in which to use spies or to defend from them
Other
This section offers some other tip and tricks of interest that'll be of great advantage during a war as well as a number of very useful tactics
I'll edit this guide when think of more to add (there's lots more
)
Hope this guide has proven useful or interesting, if you like it or thought it was good then please rep me
If you have any questions, post below. Or message me on Skype (doomdealer666)
The Most Important Rule
Don't become predictable. Although you may have preferred tactics, you should vary them round a bit as if an opponent knows what you're doing they can easily counter it. Many of the strategies listed below have their counters so if you use them for too long an opponent will get wise to it. You could always use this to your advantage by fooling them into predicting your your moves but doing something completely different to ruin their plans.
Declaring War
This first section will deal with declaring war on another tribe and choosing the best target.
Reasoning
Its generally considered best to have a reason for declaring a war. This is usually so you can use it in propaganda on the forums and make your opponents look like the bad guy, but also allows you to persuade your tribe that a war would benefit them. These reasons aren't always a huge concern to the declaring tribe but can be used nonetheless. Here are some reasons that area often used:
Choosing A Target
Choosing the right tribe to war is obviously very important. The reasons above will often be why you'll choose to war another tribe but there are other factors too. You have to make sure you've chosen the best target as many wars last for a long time and use up a lot of tribe resources. If badly planned they could even result in your tribes destruction.
If you are sharing a continent with another tribe they'll often be worth targeting in order to gain continent dominance (particularity at earlier stages in the game). If you don't have any diplomatic relations with you they may be eyeing you up, so best to get in there first! Also if a tribe spans two continents you could attempt to just remove their presence from your K.
You should have a longer term plan when choosing a target as just thinking "I can take those villages nearby" can lead you into a war that you'll be stuck in and could possibly lose in the long term. Also keep an eye on external forums to see which tribes are doing well and which are floundering. Warring a tribe someone else is warring can make things very easy as their back lines may be vulnerable, plus you could work with the other tribe warring them.
And try not to take on more than one war at once as things can become more difficult then. Keep in mind that another tribe could attack you while you're warring and you don't really want a war on two fronts. Deal with the bigger threats first. Don't ignore them unless you have a proper plan to take them on later.
If a potential target does seem to be more powerful than you, don't war them! You should either attempt to get on their good side diplomatically, or take on smaller targets to get your lines more prepared to face them in the future.
Agreements
Sometimes you won't get on with a tribe you have an NAP or alliance with or they'll look like a juicy target. This can present a problem as how to manage this situation. Here are a couple of the options you face:
1 - Just ignore the NAP. To keep an element of surprise you could just end the NAP the day you attack. However this is a very dishonourable tactic and you'll get ripped apart on the forums. Plus you'll find it hard to get diplomacy going with other tribes so overall not a recommended tactic.
2 - Follow NAP conditions. If you had an agreement with the other tribe giving a goodwill period where you agree not to attack you could follow the conditions set. This means they may be ready for an attack by you, but is looked upon favourably by other tribes making future diplomacy easier. If you don't have any conditions set its considered good form to give at least a couple of days notice of the ending of the NAP.
3 - Force them to end it. This method can make you look pretty bad if not done well. The trick is to pick up on a way that they've broken the NAP and use that as an excuse to end it immediately. If its a big transgression they've comitted you'll probably get away with it but if its a minor point you'll just end up looking like a coward. Also you could treat the other side badly so they end it, but this could lead to them declaring on you first.
Its generally best to go for a tribe you don't have any agreements with if you have the option. Of course being careful with what agreements you make in the first place can remove this problem. If you are to agree to an ending NAP period then try and keep it a small amount of time rather than several weeks.
Timing
If you get to declare then you can choose a time to suit you. Its best to either choose a time when all of your members are online so its a total assault, or choose a time when you believe your opponents to be least active. I've found Sunday is a very good day to start a war on as most people are around and the opponent normally won't be able to counter attack properly with work/school the next day.
Of course, if you have enough people online a weekday strike can get the enemy while they're busy and cause chaos among them. It helps if you know a little about their online times (especially of their leaders).
You have to take landing times into account when declaring though as you don't want to land during NB. The best time to get your attacks to land is just after NB when people generally aren't on at.
PNP
This stands for Politics And Propaganda. When you decide to declare war its a great idea to post one of these in your worlds forum. It lets others know what's going on and allows you to get the rest of the world on your side (or against you if you do it badly)
Its best to try and make it funny, particularly if you can mock the other side. Good PNP can make your tribe look like a force to be reckoned with as well as entertain. If you're posting the PNP after your first strike then you can include stats or the opponents counter attack in an attempt to mock them further
The thread you create can then be kept up to date with war stats as the conflict goes on and anything else of interest to do with the war. Use this website for your war stats, it's best to post them when you're doing well or have just held an op (can use shorter time scales if you're losing overall).
Here's some examples of PNP's if you're looking for inspiration (from W4)
- Comedy
- Satire
- Propaganda
- Straight To the Point
- Mocking
- Rated Best In W4
These are by no means good examples and may have their flaws, but show the sorts of things people have used. Much of its up to your own preferences. If you do something unique and interesting you'll get a far better response. Don't be scared if its your first post as people are generally positive if you explain its your first post.
In version 7 there's an option to send a declaration to the opposite tribe as well as post a PNP on the external forums. This can be used to demoralise an opposing tribe or just annoy them. Here's a pic of that page (dukes and barons only)
Its generally considered best to have a reason for declaring a war. This is usually so you can use it in propaganda on the forums and make your opponents look like the bad guy, but also allows you to persuade your tribe that a war would benefit them. These reasons aren't always a huge concern to the declaring tribe but can be used nonetheless. Here are some reasons that area often used:
- Barb Nobling - Particularly in your territory as its less farms (mainly used early game rather than late)
- Refugees - If a tribe recruits a player you're targeting then they're fair game
- Expansion - If they're moving into your territory then a war can put a stop to it (can be linked to barb nobling)
- Broken Agreements - Many wars start due to alliances or NAP's falling apart (perhaps certain conditions of an agreement was broken)
- Alliances - Joining an ally to assist them in a war
- Attacks - Obviously if a tribes scouting/attacking war is a good reply
- Enemies - If a tribe acts hostile towards you on the forums or during diplomacy it can result in war
- Sheer Boredom - It happens
Choosing A Target
Choosing the right tribe to war is obviously very important. The reasons above will often be why you'll choose to war another tribe but there are other factors too. You have to make sure you've chosen the best target as many wars last for a long time and use up a lot of tribe resources. If badly planned they could even result in your tribes destruction.
If you are sharing a continent with another tribe they'll often be worth targeting in order to gain continent dominance (particularity at earlier stages in the game). If you don't have any diplomatic relations with you they may be eyeing you up, so best to get in there first! Also if a tribe spans two continents you could attempt to just remove their presence from your K.
You should have a longer term plan when choosing a target as just thinking "I can take those villages nearby" can lead you into a war that you'll be stuck in and could possibly lose in the long term. Also keep an eye on external forums to see which tribes are doing well and which are floundering. Warring a tribe someone else is warring can make things very easy as their back lines may be vulnerable, plus you could work with the other tribe warring them.
And try not to take on more than one war at once as things can become more difficult then. Keep in mind that another tribe could attack you while you're warring and you don't really want a war on two fronts. Deal with the bigger threats first. Don't ignore them unless you have a proper plan to take them on later.
If a potential target does seem to be more powerful than you, don't war them! You should either attempt to get on their good side diplomatically, or take on smaller targets to get your lines more prepared to face them in the future.
Agreements
Sometimes you won't get on with a tribe you have an NAP or alliance with or they'll look like a juicy target. This can present a problem as how to manage this situation. Here are a couple of the options you face:
1 - Just ignore the NAP. To keep an element of surprise you could just end the NAP the day you attack. However this is a very dishonourable tactic and you'll get ripped apart on the forums. Plus you'll find it hard to get diplomacy going with other tribes so overall not a recommended tactic.
2 - Follow NAP conditions. If you had an agreement with the other tribe giving a goodwill period where you agree not to attack you could follow the conditions set. This means they may be ready for an attack by you, but is looked upon favourably by other tribes making future diplomacy easier. If you don't have any conditions set its considered good form to give at least a couple of days notice of the ending of the NAP.
3 - Force them to end it. This method can make you look pretty bad if not done well. The trick is to pick up on a way that they've broken the NAP and use that as an excuse to end it immediately. If its a big transgression they've comitted you'll probably get away with it but if its a minor point you'll just end up looking like a coward. Also you could treat the other side badly so they end it, but this could lead to them declaring on you first.
Its generally best to go for a tribe you don't have any agreements with if you have the option. Of course being careful with what agreements you make in the first place can remove this problem. If you are to agree to an ending NAP period then try and keep it a small amount of time rather than several weeks.
Timing
If you get to declare then you can choose a time to suit you. Its best to either choose a time when all of your members are online so its a total assault, or choose a time when you believe your opponents to be least active. I've found Sunday is a very good day to start a war on as most people are around and the opponent normally won't be able to counter attack properly with work/school the next day.
Of course, if you have enough people online a weekday strike can get the enemy while they're busy and cause chaos among them. It helps if you know a little about their online times (especially of their leaders).
You have to take landing times into account when declaring though as you don't want to land during NB. The best time to get your attacks to land is just after NB when people generally aren't on at.
PNP
This stands for Politics And Propaganda. When you decide to declare war its a great idea to post one of these in your worlds forum. It lets others know what's going on and allows you to get the rest of the world on your side (or against you if you do it badly
)Its best to try and make it funny, particularly if you can mock the other side. Good PNP can make your tribe look like a force to be reckoned with as well as entertain. If you're posting the PNP after your first strike then you can include stats or the opponents counter attack in an attempt to mock them further
The thread you create can then be kept up to date with war stats as the conflict goes on and anything else of interest to do with the war. Use this website for your war stats, it's best to post them when you're doing well or have just held an op (can use shorter time scales if you're losing overall).
Here's some examples of PNP's if you're looking for inspiration (from W4)
- Comedy
- Satire
- Propaganda
- Straight To the Point
- Mocking
- Rated Best In W4
These are by no means good examples and may have their flaws, but show the sorts of things people have used. Much of its up to your own preferences. If you do something unique and interesting you'll get a far better response. Don't be scared if its your first post as people are generally positive if you explain its your first post.
In version 7 there's an option to send a declaration to the opposite tribe as well as post a PNP on the external forums. This can be used to demoralise an opposing tribe or just annoy them. Here's a pic of that page (dukes and barons only)
Defending
This section explains about preparing your defences and holding the line effectively during war.
Stacking
If you're lucky enough to be on the declaring side, you can get your front-line stacked before the war starts. This offers you a huge advantage as an opposing counter attack will hit heavily defended villages. You need to list up all the front-line villages most at risk and try and get tribe members from further back to stick a couple of defence villages in them. You also need to make sure you can shift this defence quickly depending on what the opposing tribe does.
Stacking consists of putting a lot of defensive troops in a village with the objective of holding that village and killing off large portions of an opponents attack force. Remember that offence builds faster than defence so make sure that if you do decide to stack you've put in more than enough troops. The more troops in a village, the lower losses are so get as much as you can spare on the front-line.
The most effective way of stacking is using (on paladin worlds) a paladin with the bonfire weapon equipped and a lot of catapults. Here's a pic from the simulator to show its effectiveness.
Those troops above could survive nearly 6 nukes. If you were to add more cats and other troops you'd have an impenetrable fortress!
Sometimes if you have the odd stray village behind opposing lines it can be best to let it go without much of a fight rather than wasting defence on a village that can't be held. Or should you have an excess of defence you could stack it to the heavens so they'll lose nuke after nuke trying to take
Amount of troops to stack a village with very much depends on your situation. It is affected by these things:
- Number To Stack (If you're stacking a lot of villages then each will have a smaller number of troops in which is less effective)
- Threat Level/Position (If a village is right in enemy lines and looks like a key target then you may want a couple of D villages in there)
- Allies (If you have allies nearby they may be able to help you)
- Village Troops (evidently a full noble train village would need more protection than an empty or defence village)
If you're not on the declaring side you'll need to get lines covered soon as possible. Its a good idea to make sure your various fronts are sufficiently defended at all times so you don't take heavy losses in the first attack. Also having a plan in place for quick stacking helps, one that can be put in place without waiting for leaders.
A final important point to remember is to prioritise church villages (on a church world) as if the enemy takes oone it leave the rest of your villages in a dangerous situation.
Attack ID's
As incomings will often be kept up constantly during a war, you won't always be online to tag. An excellent method is to set up an Attack ID database so you can tag attacks that you weren't online for. Basically everyone in the tribe is needed to keep this up, you want it updated as often as possible (preferably every hour).
When you send a farming run, you go to the rally point and right click on the attack. Then you choose copy linked address. This will give you the full web address with a string of numbers towards the end of it (like this - http://uk6.tribalwars.co.uk/game.php?village=1920&screen=info_command&id=1532395&type=other) You then just copy the numbers and paste them on your tribal forums in the attack ID database thread.
The way this is useful is that when you have an incoming you go to your rally point. As before right click on the attack and copy address. Again you'll have a string of numbers. The trick is, you find which two posts that number falls between (as the numbers all follow the same pattern). That gives you the window in which the attack could have been sent. From there you see which number your incoming is closest to and that shows which time it was closest to. Obviously it depends heavily on having the database updated often.
A way to keep it constantly updated is to share a database with an ally in a shared forum so you have both tribes contributing.
Retaking
A particularly useful defence tactic is retaking. It should only really be used if you can't defend in another way or the village you're defending has no troops. The idea is, you let the opponent take your village only to take it back moments after before they can do anything.
You should time a noble (with nuke) followed by another noble as backup to land shortly after the opponents attack is going to take your village. If the opponents is wise to this they may send support after their attack so you'll have to land yours in between the final attack and the support. You should also watch out for whether your retake lands in night bonus as that can cost troops. And an opponent may try a retake after your retake so stay on the ball!
To make this tactic more effective, try and prenoble your village down before their train hits. This means their first attack will take so the following ones hit their own troops. If you finish this with a retake it can make an opposing op a miserable failure with limited troop losses to yourself.
Retaking requires nobles nearby either belonging to you or a tribemate (who you can get to retake if you can't yourself). Offensive troops also help as clever opponents may quickly defend.
Sniping
This is one of the most useful tactics if you can't get a village stacked. My knowledge of sniping isn't brilliant so instead I'll refer you to this guide. The idea is to land some support in the middle of an opponents noble train thus killing the undefended nobles while avoiding their clearing nukes.
It makes for a low loss defence and can allow you to hold villages with ease and frustrate your enemy. For practise get someone in your tribe to send a fake train at you to snipe, so when you're actually under attack you find it easy. Sniping is easier on worlds that have a force noble train gap.
Tripwires
If you have support you can move around quickly then tripwires would be a good strategy. Stick a couple of spears (about 5) as support in each tribe mates village you want to set a tripwire in. Then when they're attacked you'll get a report. If all the spears die they've probably lost everything and need support. If just some die then you know what sort of of percentage losses they've taken.
Other Defences
You can't always get every village stacked so some will have to be defended differently. Different people favour different tactics so its up to you which you use. Stacking is generally the best to use but is not always possible.
As nobles are the only real threat to the village you can dodge and incomings at ram speed, only to defend against any noble trains. Opponents can soon get wise to this though and will include cats with their nukes, weakening your village. This is a tactic to use if you're struggling with defence. Its very important to drum into tribe members that nobles are the main threat so they don't panic when receiving random incomings and fakes.
Cross Defending can be a useful tactic earlier on in a world. The way it works is you find a nearby tribe mate and each send a defence village of support to each other between two villages (so your tribemate will send their defence to the village you sent your defence from). Then when you receive incomings you withdraw the defence from the friend so you have support even if they're offline
Militia are helpful early in the game if attacked by an opposing tribe as you can kill off chunks of offence without losing anyhting yourself.
Expansion
Its a good idea not to expand quicker than you can defend otherwise the opponent will just take them all straight back. Get support going in after noble trains and be prepared to defend (especially if opponent is going for the retake). Aim for villages closest to your front-line so you don't end up with a cut off cluster under constant threat.
If you're lucky enough to be on the declaring side, you can get your front-line stacked before the war starts. This offers you a huge advantage as an opposing counter attack will hit heavily defended villages. You need to list up all the front-line villages most at risk and try and get tribe members from further back to stick a couple of defence villages in them. You also need to make sure you can shift this defence quickly depending on what the opposing tribe does.
Stacking consists of putting a lot of defensive troops in a village with the objective of holding that village and killing off large portions of an opponents attack force. Remember that offence builds faster than defence so make sure that if you do decide to stack you've put in more than enough troops. The more troops in a village, the lower losses are so get as much as you can spare on the front-line.
The most effective way of stacking is using (on paladin worlds) a paladin with the bonfire weapon equipped and a lot of catapults. Here's a pic from the simulator to show its effectiveness.
Sometimes if you have the odd stray village behind opposing lines it can be best to let it go without much of a fight rather than wasting defence on a village that can't be held. Or should you have an excess of defence you could stack it to the heavens so they'll lose nuke after nuke trying to take
Amount of troops to stack a village with very much depends on your situation. It is affected by these things:
- Number To Stack (If you're stacking a lot of villages then each will have a smaller number of troops in which is less effective)
- Threat Level/Position (If a village is right in enemy lines and looks like a key target then you may want a couple of D villages in there)
- Allies (If you have allies nearby they may be able to help you)
- Village Troops (evidently a full noble train village would need more protection than an empty or defence village)
If you're not on the declaring side you'll need to get lines covered soon as possible. Its a good idea to make sure your various fronts are sufficiently defended at all times so you don't take heavy losses in the first attack. Also having a plan in place for quick stacking helps, one that can be put in place without waiting for leaders.
A final important point to remember is to prioritise church villages (on a church world) as if the enemy takes oone it leave the rest of your villages in a dangerous situation.
Attack ID's
As incomings will often be kept up constantly during a war, you won't always be online to tag. An excellent method is to set up an Attack ID database so you can tag attacks that you weren't online for. Basically everyone in the tribe is needed to keep this up, you want it updated as often as possible (preferably every hour).
When you send a farming run, you go to the rally point and right click on the attack. Then you choose copy linked address. This will give you the full web address with a string of numbers towards the end of it (like this - http://uk6.tribalwars.co.uk/game.php?village=1920&screen=info_command&id=1532395&type=other) You then just copy the numbers and paste them on your tribal forums in the attack ID database thread.
The way this is useful is that when you have an incoming you go to your rally point. As before right click on the attack and copy address. Again you'll have a string of numbers. The trick is, you find which two posts that number falls between (as the numbers all follow the same pattern). That gives you the window in which the attack could have been sent. From there you see which number your incoming is closest to and that shows which time it was closest to. Obviously it depends heavily on having the database updated often.
A way to keep it constantly updated is to share a database with an ally in a shared forum so you have both tribes contributing.
Retaking
A particularly useful defence tactic is retaking. It should only really be used if you can't defend in another way or the village you're defending has no troops. The idea is, you let the opponent take your village only to take it back moments after before they can do anything.
You should time a noble (with nuke) followed by another noble as backup to land shortly after the opponents attack is going to take your village. If the opponents is wise to this they may send support after their attack so you'll have to land yours in between the final attack and the support. You should also watch out for whether your retake lands in night bonus as that can cost troops. And an opponent may try a retake after your retake so stay on the ball!
To make this tactic more effective, try and prenoble your village down before their train hits. This means their first attack will take so the following ones hit their own troops. If you finish this with a retake it can make an opposing op a miserable failure with limited troop losses to yourself.
Retaking requires nobles nearby either belonging to you or a tribemate (who you can get to retake if you can't yourself). Offensive troops also help as clever opponents may quickly defend.
Sniping
This is one of the most useful tactics if you can't get a village stacked. My knowledge of sniping isn't brilliant so instead I'll refer you to this guide. The idea is to land some support in the middle of an opponents noble train thus killing the undefended nobles while avoiding their clearing nukes.
It makes for a low loss defence and can allow you to hold villages with ease and frustrate your enemy. For practise get someone in your tribe to send a fake train at you to snipe, so when you're actually under attack you find it easy. Sniping is easier on worlds that have a force noble train gap.
Tripwires
If you have support you can move around quickly then tripwires would be a good strategy. Stick a couple of spears (about 5) as support in each tribe mates village you want to set a tripwire in. Then when they're attacked you'll get a report. If all the spears die they've probably lost everything and need support. If just some die then you know what sort of of percentage losses they've taken.
Other Defences
You can't always get every village stacked so some will have to be defended differently. Different people favour different tactics so its up to you which you use. Stacking is generally the best to use but is not always possible.
As nobles are the only real threat to the village you can dodge and incomings at ram speed, only to defend against any noble trains. Opponents can soon get wise to this though and will include cats with their nukes, weakening your village. This is a tactic to use if you're struggling with defence. Its very important to drum into tribe members that nobles are the main threat so they don't panic when receiving random incomings and fakes.
Cross Defending can be a useful tactic earlier on in a world. The way it works is you find a nearby tribe mate and each send a defence village of support to each other between two villages (so your tribemate will send their defence to the village you sent your defence from). Then when you receive incomings you withdraw the defence from the friend so you have support even if they're offline
Militia are helpful early in the game if attacked by an opposing tribe as you can kill off chunks of offence without losing anyhting yourself.
Expansion
Its a good idea not to expand quicker than you can defend otherwise the opponent will just take them all straight back. Get support going in after noble trains and be prepared to defend (especially if opponent is going for the retake). Aim for villages closest to your front-line so you don't end up with a cut off cluster under constant threat.
Attacking
This section offers some basic attacking tactics and planning ops
First Strike
Another advantage of being the tribe to declare is getting the first strike. Unless an opponent is very well prepared you'll be hitting weak defences and will send them into disarray.
If you're going to strike first it needs to be well planned. You have to know everyone targets and be sure that they'll be able to take. You'll also need to consider defences for new conquers and a lot of fakes.
A well planned first strike can put you well into the lead to start off the war and can deal a blow the opposing tribe may not recover from. People may need to use nukes for the good of the tribe, clearing a village for a tribemate so they can get the nobles in.
Faking
For an op to work, you need to fake the enemy. this involves sending attacks consisting of just a ram or scout that the opponent may interpret as a real attack or it will disguise proper attacks.
The best composition of a fake is a ram/cat and a scout. This can allow you to see inside a village containing no scouts gaining some useful intel. If you have plenty of scouts you can stick a larger number with it for a higher chance of seeing inside an opponents village (200 or more is good). If an opponent likes to dodge use "fanged fakes" which consist of about 25-30 cats aimed at key buildings such as their farm.
To create an effective fake screen you'll need plenty of players participating who each will send plenty of attacks. Fakes often work well targeting certain players giving them 1000's of incomings to sort through. Sending a fake noble train can work well if you get a lot of them going out.
It's best to land fakes not in the night bonus as most players ignore them. You should also fake from different villages and not just the same one so they seem more real. Fake support after a fake noble train can make a village seem like a target so defence will be moved there.
Operations
Ops are the best way deal the most damage to the enemy. Rather than players attacking at random times its coordinated and stands far more chance of success. It works similarly to what i mentioned in the first strike section.
You choose a landing time and get everyone's nobles to land around that time or as close as possible (nukes before obviously). This is accompanied by a fake screen and any other attempts at a diversion that the tribe can manage.
Ops will usually target a specific player or area with the aim of taking as many as possible. Its useful to have scout reports on the village beforehand but sometimes attacking blind can catch them unaware.
Intel
Having scout reports on enemy villages proves very useful so you can identify incoming attacks and know what you're going to be hitting if you're targeting them. Utilising fakes with scouts is usually the best bet so enemies are less likely to dodge.
Creating an intel forum helps immensely, though it relies on having someone (or several people) with enough time to keep it up to date. Create a thread for each player of interest and list all their villages (copy and paste from their profile). The whenever someone gets a report on that player they post it in the thread. That report is then edited into the list with a tag saying if the village is an attack one of defence. If its kept up to date it offers you a huge advantage.
Another advantage of being the tribe to declare is getting the first strike. Unless an opponent is very well prepared you'll be hitting weak defences and will send them into disarray.
If you're going to strike first it needs to be well planned. You have to know everyone targets and be sure that they'll be able to take. You'll also need to consider defences for new conquers and a lot of fakes.
A well planned first strike can put you well into the lead to start off the war and can deal a blow the opposing tribe may not recover from. People may need to use nukes for the good of the tribe, clearing a village for a tribemate so they can get the nobles in.
Faking
For an op to work, you need to fake the enemy. this involves sending attacks consisting of just a ram or scout that the opponent may interpret as a real attack or it will disguise proper attacks.
The best composition of a fake is a ram/cat and a scout. This can allow you to see inside a village containing no scouts gaining some useful intel. If you have plenty of scouts you can stick a larger number with it for a higher chance of seeing inside an opponents village (200 or more is good). If an opponent likes to dodge use "fanged fakes" which consist of about 25-30 cats aimed at key buildings such as their farm.
To create an effective fake screen you'll need plenty of players participating who each will send plenty of attacks. Fakes often work well targeting certain players giving them 1000's of incomings to sort through. Sending a fake noble train can work well if you get a lot of them going out.
It's best to land fakes not in the night bonus as most players ignore them. You should also fake from different villages and not just the same one so they seem more real. Fake support after a fake noble train can make a village seem like a target so defence will be moved there.
Operations
Ops are the best way deal the most damage to the enemy. Rather than players attacking at random times its coordinated and stands far more chance of success. It works similarly to what i mentioned in the first strike section.
You choose a landing time and get everyone's nobles to land around that time or as close as possible (nukes before obviously). This is accompanied by a fake screen and any other attempts at a diversion that the tribe can manage.
Ops will usually target a specific player or area with the aim of taking as many as possible. Its useful to have scout reports on the village beforehand but sometimes attacking blind can catch them unaware.
Intel
Having scout reports on enemy villages proves very useful so you can identify incoming attacks and know what you're going to be hitting if you're targeting them. Utilising fakes with scouts is usually the best bet so enemies are less likely to dodge.
Creating an intel forum helps immensely, though it relies on having someone (or several people) with enough time to keep it up to date. Create a thread for each player of interest and list all their villages (copy and paste from their profile). The whenever someone gets a report on that player they post it in the thread. That report is then edited into the list with a tag saying if the village is an attack one of defence. If its kept up to date it offers you a huge advantage.
Ending a War
This section covers ways in which you can end a war
Surrender
Obviously not the most preferred way of ending a war Surrender to an opponent and you lose the war. Basically its up to them whether they'll stop. Either way most of your tribe would still be destroyed.
Annihilating
If you rim an enemy tribe fully then you've definitely won. Its actually quite rare for a whole tribe to be wiped out, usually players will join other tribes or find some other way to survive. Also it would be very time consuming to fully wipe out a tribe so wars usually end in other ways.
Disband
If you defeat an opposing tribe well enough they may disband. This allows you to pick off the remainder at your leisure or recruit if there's any decent players. Sometimes even a tribe at full strength can be made to disband though this isn't always due to a war.
Merge
If facing worthy opponents a merge can be the best way to end a war. There are two types of merge this can be.
Type one is a joint merge. Both tribes take their best and form a new tribe under joint leadership. This can create a new superpower in a world although there are usually rivalries to sort out. If there's distrust the tribe can turn on itself with leaders from each side kicking members and removing privs.
Type 2 is a victorious merge. If one side wins they can take in the best from the other side. Sometimes this may be much of the tribe, other times it could be just a couple of players. The winning side generally has the say on the conditions so can be quite brutal.
The problem with merges is that they can be quite boring. A huge war ending in a merge is a bit of an anti-climax and can destroy a worlds balance of war. However they do make for a powerful tribe if done right.
Diplomacy
A war could be ended by agreeing a ceasefire or alliance. This would be more of a draw outcome, though the tribe that was in the lead may be able to dictate some conditions to this arrangement.
Ceasefires have a habit of breaking down over time so you have to watch out if you agree one. Alliances last longer and can benefit both tribes.
Obviously not the most preferred way of ending a war
Surrender to an opponent and you lose the war. Basically its up to them whether they'll stop. Either way most of your tribe would still be destroyed.Annihilating
If you rim an enemy tribe fully then you've definitely won. Its actually quite rare for a whole tribe to be wiped out, usually players will join other tribes or find some other way to survive. Also it would be very time consuming to fully wipe out a tribe so wars usually end in other ways.
Disband
If you defeat an opposing tribe well enough they may disband. This allows you to pick off the remainder at your leisure or recruit if there's any decent players. Sometimes even a tribe at full strength can be made to disband though this isn't always due to a war.
Merge
If facing worthy opponents a merge can be the best way to end a war. There are two types of merge this can be.
Type one is a joint merge. Both tribes take their best and form a new tribe under joint leadership. This can create a new superpower in a world although there are usually rivalries to sort out. If there's distrust the tribe can turn on itself with leaders from each side kicking members and removing privs.
Type 2 is a victorious merge. If one side wins they can take in the best from the other side. Sometimes this may be much of the tribe, other times it could be just a couple of players. The winning side generally has the say on the conditions so can be quite brutal.
The problem with merges is that they can be quite boring. A huge war ending in a merge is a bit of an anti-climax and can destroy a worlds balance of war. However they do make for a powerful tribe if done right.
Diplomacy
A war could be ended by agreeing a ceasefire or alliance. This would be more of a draw outcome, though the tribe that was in the lead may be able to dictate some conditions to this arrangement.
Ceasefires have a habit of breaking down over time so you have to watch out if you agree one. Alliances last longer and can benefit both tribes.
Espionage
This section offers ways in which to use spies or to defend from them
Usage Of Spies
Some people love them, some people hate them. None the less they're still part of the game. Having a spy working for you gives you a massive advantage over the enemy though its not always possible to get them in a tribe especially close knit ones.
A spy is a player who gives you information on the tribe they are in. They may let you sit their account for a look around, but thuis method is often found out.
Ways in which you can use them are:
1 - Noble Planner - You can find your opponents targets so will be better prepared when defending. If you see targets from another tribe you could even stack them to increase opposing losses (same with barbs or internals). Some tribes even share noble planners so you can get two for the price of one!
2 - Weak Points - You can find where they are most in need of support and hit them there by using their support forums. It also works the other way round as you can find out where they're most stacked and avoid that area.
3 - Battle Plans - Sometimes a tribe will plan their operations on the forums giving you access to exactly what they're planning. This means you can easily counter their attempts and cause their attacks to end in a failure. Its one of the biggest uses for spies.
4 - Sabotage - A spy with privileges for a tribe could potentially wreak havoc. The ability to moderate forums means you could wipe out all their intel, higher powers means you could kick members or even disband the tribe completely! This is generally frowned upon however as its pretty cruel. Then again, some argue tribes that lax deserve it.
4 - Propaganda - If you can get hold of some useful info you could post it on the external forums. this could be showing the enemy to be noobs or acting in a bad way.
Counter Espionage
Keep information on a need to know if you suspect having a spy. Keep most things in your hidden forums or by mail. Then at least it narrows down the suspects or keeps info out of opponents hands.
You could try feeding false information to a suspect in order to ruin enemy plans and to find out if its them. You could even make fake noble claims in the planner to misdirect them. Plus you can sit accounts to check for incriminating mails or previous sits.
If you know who a spy is then you can actually benefit if you're careful, but its best off if you recruit carefully and speak to all members so you don't get them in the first place.
Some people love them, some people hate them. None the less they're still part of the game. Having a spy working for you gives you a massive advantage over the enemy though its not always possible to get them in a tribe especially close knit ones.
A spy is a player who gives you information on the tribe they are in. They may let you sit their account for a look around, but thuis method is often found out.
Ways in which you can use them are:
1 - Noble Planner - You can find your opponents targets so will be better prepared when defending. If you see targets from another tribe you could even stack them to increase opposing losses (same with barbs or internals). Some tribes even share noble planners so you can get two for the price of one!
2 - Weak Points - You can find where they are most in need of support and hit them there by using their support forums. It also works the other way round as you can find out where they're most stacked and avoid that area.
3 - Battle Plans - Sometimes a tribe will plan their operations on the forums giving you access to exactly what they're planning. This means you can easily counter their attempts and cause their attacks to end in a failure. Its one of the biggest uses for spies.
4 - Sabotage - A spy with privileges for a tribe could potentially wreak havoc. The ability to moderate forums means you could wipe out all their intel, higher powers means you could kick members or even disband the tribe completely! This is generally frowned upon however as its pretty cruel. Then again, some argue tribes that lax deserve it.
4 - Propaganda - If you can get hold of some useful info you could post it on the external forums. this could be showing the enemy to be noobs or acting in a bad way.
Counter Espionage
Keep information on a need to know if you suspect having a spy. Keep most things in your hidden forums or by mail. Then at least it narrows down the suspects or keeps info out of opponents hands.
You could try feeding false information to a suspect in order to ruin enemy plans and to find out if its them. You could even make fake noble claims in the planner to misdirect them. Plus you can sit accounts to check for incriminating mails or previous sits.
If you know who a spy is then you can actually benefit if you're careful, but its best off if you recruit carefully and speak to all members so you don't get them in the first place.
Other
This section offers some other tip and tricks of interest that'll be of great advantage during a war as well as a number of very useful tactics
Inactives
During war you always get people going inactive due to the pressure of attacks etc. Therefore its best to have an emergency sitter system. this means everyone leaves a leader as a sitter. the if the player goes inactive that leader can dive in and keep the account ticking over.
You've got to be prepared to internal quickly if a front-line player goes inactive as the enemy will almost always target them for easy villages.
Use Tribal Wars Stats to find out which enemy villages are inactive or being internalled. You can move your line forward nicely if hitting inactive villages, plus it denies those villages to the enemy.
Catting
Cats are a useful tool during war as you don't have to noble an enemy to beat them. If you take out their key buildings that village becomes essentially useless and they can do little with it. Particularly late in the game when nobles are expensive it may be beneficial to cat an opponent to the ground. If you have enough cats you could even take the village down to 100 points making it completely useless.
This tactic can be used defensively too in a scorched earth tactic. If there is a village you are definitely going to lose you can demolish its key components using the demolish option combined with your cats. This can prove highly frustrating to an enemy if their conquers are useless as well as slow down their advance.
In my opinion these are the buildings you should demolish (in this order)
- Farm (without a farm no troops can be built or buildings built up)
- Warehouse (stops them gathering up resources to rebuild quickly)
- Barracks/Stable (destroy the troop building capacity)
- Smithy/HQ (make them unable to mint coins or produce nobles. Plus smithy is time consuming to build)
What to demolish often depends upon the situation so work out what your opponent needs the most
During war you always get people going inactive due to the pressure of attacks etc. Therefore its best to have an emergency sitter system. this means everyone leaves a leader as a sitter. the if the player goes inactive that leader can dive in and keep the account ticking over.
You've got to be prepared to internal quickly if a front-line player goes inactive as the enemy will almost always target them for easy villages.
Use Tribal Wars Stats to find out which enemy villages are inactive or being internalled. You can move your line forward nicely if hitting inactive villages, plus it denies those villages to the enemy.
Catting
Cats are a useful tool during war as you don't have to noble an enemy to beat them. If you take out their key buildings that village becomes essentially useless and they can do little with it. Particularly late in the game when nobles are expensive it may be beneficial to cat an opponent to the ground. If you have enough cats you could even take the village down to 100 points making it completely useless.
This tactic can be used defensively too in a scorched earth tactic. If there is a village you are definitely going to lose you can demolish its key components using the demolish option combined with your cats. This can prove highly frustrating to an enemy if their conquers are useless as well as slow down their advance.
In my opinion these are the buildings you should demolish (in this order)
- Farm (without a farm no troops can be built or buildings built up)
- Warehouse (stops them gathering up resources to rebuild quickly)
- Barracks/Stable (destroy the troop building capacity)
- Smithy/HQ (make them unable to mint coins or produce nobles. Plus smithy is time consuming to build)
What to demolish often depends upon the situation so work out what your opponent needs the most
I'll edit this guide when think of more to add (there's lots more
)Hope this guide has proven useful or interesting, if you like it or thought it was good then please rep me
If you have any questions, post below. Or message me on Skype (doomdealer666)
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