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How To Play On Water Maps
Water Maps have always scared many players, but
with the recent interest in galley rushing, it's
time to lift the veil and tell the truth about
these maps of mystery ! In this guide DaRq_Nirvana
will walk you through some of the basic components
of each and every water map. The aim of this guide
? To prepare you for the surprises Water maps
offer, to explain the priorities of each map, and
to suggest the best strategies for each specific
situation. Will it make you a master of water maps
? It sure will give you a great place to start
improving your game !
Baltic
Islands / Team Islands
Archipelago
Continental / Mediterranean
Migration
1.) BALTIC:
The Baltic map type is made up of 60% water
located in its centre, while the remaining 40%
land forms the border that turns this map into a
huge landlocked lake.
Currently there are 3 prevailing strategies when
playing Baltic and since it abounds with ocean
fish (classified as 'free food' by many experts),
the water forms the focal point in most games, and
directly influences each strategy.
Among both Intermediates and Expert players the
Galley rUSH (gush) evolved to become the
predominant strategy on most water maps. This
tactic involves a fast feudal time followed by a
galley flood from several docks in an adrenalin
packed race to secure the ocean.
As the Real experts can play ANY map trend
re-developed, some hardcore flushers adapted their
favourite strategy for the water game by foregoing
the dock completely! Of course this would only
work on water maps where you have direct land
access to the opponent, but still leaves you with
the opportunity to establish a stronghold in the
enemy base before you start losing too much ground
in the economic race.
Lastly, the dock-assisted quick-castle, even
though being an older strategy in itself, remains
very effective when playing in teams of 3 or more.
A single dock and 5 or 6 fishing ships propel the
pocket player to a sub 15:00 castle time, after
which he proceeds to assist in the sea battle with
fireships, while launching a knight attack on the
strongest enemy player.
2.) ISLANDS / TEAM ISLANDS:
Because of their similarity, Islands and Team
Islands are both played the same way, with team
islands being a slightly more defensive game.
Surprisingly enough, each player gets his own
Island on the Islands map, while each team gets
a whole Island to themselves on the Team Islands
map. I never would have guessed. :-)
As with most water maps, the dominating strategy
here is the galley rush. When a whole team can
effectively execute such a combined galley rush on
the Team Islands map, it usually results in a
flawless victory as they take complete control of
the ocean, preventing enemy traffic from reaching
their collective economy, and simultaneously
capitalising on the ocean fish near the edges of
the map.
In single player, the situation is similar to team
games, but players have a slightly larger weapons
array to choose from. The principles remain the
same as with Baltic where you try to be the
aggressor and not the defender.
However, executing a direct flush on a map like
Islands presents an obvious and serious problem
How do I get to the other side? Shortly a simple
and yet radical solution presented itself: Dock
solely for the transport and give up on ocean
fishing completely. This exchange was rather
risky, but worked well because of its absolute
surprise value.
As the Transport Flush became common practice it
had to give way to the more difficult, but safer
galley feint on most maps. This feint relies on
your ability to execute a galley rush bluff that
your opponent cannot ignore, followed up with an
early land attack that will hamper the enemys
economic growth as you give up control of the
ocean.
On the Team Islands map a quick castle is less
illustrious than on Baltic for two main reasons.
Because there is less area to explore, players
usually set their scouts to patrol their coast
lines, highly increasing the odds that your
forward base will be prematurely scouted and
rooted out. Secondly, if the enemy team pulls of a
successful combined gush there will be NOTHING
that fireships can do to their combined navy, even
though un-upgraded.
3.) ARCHIPELAGO:
The mother of the random factor - Archipelago is
well known for its exciting unpredictability.
Ranging from Island type land formations, to
semi-Baltic layout, Archipelago will keep
surprising you every time.
On this map your scout will make or break the
game, supplying you with the information necessary
to commit to either a water, land or hybrid
strategy. For example, there is one small crossing
to the enemy island that he hasnt discovered. You
can take advantage of that by delivering a
full-blown flush and permanently crippling his
economy, something that he would not expect.
There are no real signs that will predict the lay
of this map, so you will really have to remain
extra cautious and aware at all times, and this is
what makes this map my favourite. It demands a
wide variety of skills, ranging from flushing,
No other map can really deliver the excitement of
Archipelago.
4.) CONTINENTAL / MEDITERRANEAN:
Although complete inversions of each other, both
Continental and Mediterranean require the same
tactical decisions and offer equal strategic
opportunities.
Firstly, land is a very common commodity on these
maps, presenting us with the option of a no-dock
build-up. However, some early walling and
efficient scouting can still overcome such a
strategy.
On the other hand you can launch an attack on both
land and sea, which is safer, but vulnerable to an
all land attack, unless you can incorporate
walling into your build.
A rare but effective alternative to the above two
options is the dock assisted flush. With this
strategy you still feudal very early, but your
fishing ships are providing the initial food for
economic growth, allowing you to punch much harder
in the first 2 or 3 minutes of the fighting. This
should gain you the initiative and even though you
may lose your fishing ships you will be able to
apply more economic pressure on his resources due
to your larger land army.
The efficiency of each of these strategies varies
every time you play, and largely depend on the
map. Current information on enemy activity can
also play a big role in helping you select your
strategy, so use your scout wisely.
5.) MIGRATION:
The map off opposites - you either hate or love
this map, there is no in between. You can either
play it or not. No compromise, hardcore
entertainment is what it specialises in.
Because of the sheer distance between you and the
enemy, a generic galley rushing may actually lose
you the game, while a transport flush is even
riskier against informed opponents. Once again
surprise can play a very big role, so if you are
able to sneak 4 villagers onto the enemy island
undetected, by all means go for it. The key is
building up a force large enough to counter about
12 villagers storming your army
A strong boat boom from 2 or 3 docks, with a
13-minute or lower feudal time works best. To
secure your future it is essential that you build
a barracks and an archery range on the main island
just after you feudal, so an early transport is a
must. From these 2 buildings you should produce
units to cover the enemy shoreline and attempt to
prevent him from setting up a forward base on the
mainland. Spearmen usually help against the
inevitable knight entourage guarding the next wave
of enemy forwards.
Build your mainland buildings as close to the
enemy island as possible, giving you a better
chance of detecting enemy intrusion. Keep the
enemy of the mainland as long as possible while
capturing the key resources. When the mainland
fighting becomes intense, consider sending a
raiding part of knights onto the enemy island
Such an attack should disable his main food
income.
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