RTS Game Theory/Guide: Military
This is a deeper look at how to manage your military. Once again, keep in mind that units and fighting systems(like the rock-paper-scissors mentioned above) vary between games. These are some tactics that can apply to all RTS that will help you get those W’s.
Controls:
Hotkeys are necessary for moving your army around and even training units. Find the hot keys of the buildings in the controls menu. You can also set your own hotkeys. This will allow you to train units very quickly instead of mousing over each and every military building. It is also useful to group the same units to specific hotkeys. For example, group all archers together under “1”, and all horsemen under “2”. It will be easier to maneuver in a tactful way. Another helpful tip is that you can divide the map into quadrants and assign your army to that quadrant so you can easily keep track of where they are. Ex Quadrant 1 is near the top of the map, Quadrant 2 is close to the center, etc).
Another REALLY important mechanic is “attack move”. “Attack moving” allows all selected units to attack any enemy unit or building in the way from where they are(point A) to where you click (Point B). If you don’t use “attack moving”, your units will all try to get to the single unit or building you clicked, doing nothing. This is demonstrated in the picture. “Attack moving” will allow your units to attack other things if they can’t reach the target, maximizing damage output.
Movement:
Following closely to the controls, movement is important in getting into a fight that is favorable. If you can easily maneuver your units around, you can help defend high priority units with cheaper units so that they don’t go down too easily. Some games like the Age of Empires series, makes your army go the speed of the slowest unit. You should separate your slower units from your faster units through hotkeys to increase the mobility of your army. Another thing to look at are the formations. Some games allow premade formations which can be helpful in certain situations. Again, using the Age of EMpires example, there are units that can do Area of Effect damage that will destroy group up units. There is a formation you can use that spreads your army out at the click of a button to minimize the damage taken.
Defense vs Offense:
This is probably one of the more tricky parts of the military section as it depends on your situation and your civilization/faction/etc. that you are playing. Some factions are made to be played more offensively, while others play defensive until a later point in the game.
If you are being attacked, you should create units that counter the raiding units and you need enough defensive units to stave off the attacks. If that means switching workers on resources to train those units, you should do that. Build defensive structures to defend your base and house your workers.
When playing offensively, don’t get too greedy and overextend. Make sure you scout out what is happening on the map and move forward with that information. Secure resources and important locations. Use raiders to slow the progress of your opponent. Build “forward bases”. Forward bases allow you to get units to a position much quicker. This is the same idea as keeping your workers as close to the resources and drop off sites as possible to increase efficiency. Building a forward base not only saves you the walking distance, but it can also save them from being picked off from your opponent as they travel to their destination.
I hope this theory guide helps and keep practicing!
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