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FANTASY GENERAL- LADDERMASTER'S STRATEGY COLUMN
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INTERMEDIATE STRATEGY: CONQUERING THE AUTOBUILD PBM SCENARIO
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At one point or another, most of us have run into that one opponent
who harmlessly sends the following setup: 'computer autobuilds units
for both sides'. To beginners, this might seem strange or confusing,
or perhaps it might seem like it requires no thought and just pure luck. 
But to most of the veterans, this setup gives us a slightly uneasy
feeling, especially when the opponent is someone we normally beat. 
Because autobuild is the great equalizer, in that you have no choice
over units at all, the outcome seems to be based on luck, and
the lower skill player who suggest the setup has nothing to lose.
A lower skill player might reason, 'well, if I play this guy enough times
on autobuild, I will get lucky and win once or twice'. Not so fast!
Through a number of autobuild games, I have found that you indeed have
control of your own destiny, and if you play an unexperienced autobuild
player you can expect to win every time.

So, I'd like to share my autobuild formula for success with the rest
of you(I have not lost an autobuild game yet). If you follow a few simple
concepts, you will always have the advantage. 

1) The first key point is that the winner of the air war will win the
autobuild game. No exceptions. 

You might ask why this is true in autobuild and not necessarily true 
in standard games. Well, the reason is that in standard games you have
units with full exp that can withstand air attack and bomberdier attack. 
In autobuild games units have no experience or 1 shield at most. 
What this means is that sky hunters and especially bomberdiers can
do good damage against any enemy unit, even enemy heavy infantry. 
If you also have the character spells for Aelcar or Krell, you should 
be able to kill any enemy unit from above. Since ground targets are irrelevant
in an autobuild game, the result of the ground war is irrelevant 
if you have control of the skies. If you win the air war, all you have
to do is use your spell, sky hunters, and bomberdiers to kill the enemy
ground units one by one. Usually an opponent will see such as game as
hopeless and surrender. Once you get control of the air war, you should
purchase nothing but bomberdiers(the strongest you can) with your remaining
money. The more bomberdiers you have, the quicker you will be able to wipe
out the enemy ground units. But remember, the air war in not won until
the opponent cannot purchase any more air units, and you have wiped
out the ground archer and seige defenses.

So, how do you win the air war, you might ask... that brings
me to the second key to the game:

2) Always choose Aelcar as your warlord, and DO NOT take the beastmaster
or mechmaster advantage. 

Why Aelcar? Well, you want the character spells because being able to 
cast whirlwind once per turn will make the air war much easier.
Why not Krell? To answer this let's observe what the AI does when
it autobuilds units- it usually goes for maximum variety. In fact,
the more units it can buy, the more variety you will get. This is not
necessarily bad, unless the units it buys are ones you don't want. 
In the air war, you want as many magical units as possible, because
without fear of amulets, they are the strongest air units in the game. 
If you choose Krell, what sort of units are available to the AI to choose
from? You have the magic air units, and the neutral mortals, which do not have a
magical attack. So all things being equal, you will have 50% magical, 
50% weak mortals(depending on how lucky you are). Now, if you take Aelcar,
what air units are available? You have your magic air units, the neutral
mortals(non-magical attack), and the evil mortals(magical attack).
Now you have a 66% chance of getting a sky hunter with a magic attack
when the AI picks a sky hunter. See the difference? While you are not 
guaranteeing yourself to get better air units, you are improving your odds. Plus
the AI generally tends to buy less of the non-dominant air units
for you(for evil characters, the dominant air units seem to be the
evil mortals, for good characters it is the neutral mortals which
you don't want). Why should you not choose the beastmaster or mechmaster
advantage? For the same reason as you should choose Aelcar... the mechs
and beasts do not have a magical attack so you don't want those sky hunters.
If you have those advantages, chances are you will dilute the good
pool of sky hunters more and have less chance to get the magic ones. 
Plus, the less choices you give the AI, the more chance that more
of them will end up as sky hunters; it seems that the more ground
units the AI has to choose from, the more of them you will get.
So keep it simple by giving the AI few choices in terms of the units
it can buy.

Well, I still haven't really told you how to win the air war. 
Choosing Aelcar is only part of it. The next key to the game
is below:

3) Once you start, go for the kill in the air war right away.

The first thing you need to do is scout the enemy air force. 
If you don't have an eagle eye unit, buy a cheap light cav
and investigate. One of two things will have happened with the setup:
your opponent will have a better or equal air force, OR your opponent
will have an inferior air force. If you have the air war advantage,
things are simple. Gather all your air units and just send them
at the enemy air force, using any bomberdiers you have(or the weaker
sky hunters) as shields. Play strategically, of course, but don't hesitate
in going for the enemy air force, and don't wait for ground support as
you normally would. If your air force is better, 
you should be able to kill the enemy air force within a few turns. 
Remember to use that whirlwind spell on the strongest enemy sky hunter
each turn. The reason to go for the enemy air force right away is
that the enemy player can buy reinforcements to bolster his air
strength and equal your air force. If you kill his air units before
he can do that, you will always have the numerical advantage. Remember,
air units that are bought at a town must sit still one turn. If you
control the air, then you can just camp out at the enemy town and attack
the sky hunters the opponent buys before they can attack you. 
The one with the first attack will always have the advantage. 
And attacking one or two at a time is much easier than attacking 
a whole air force, screened by bomberdiers. If the only recourse 
of the enemy is to buy air units because he has no air force left, 
you will win. 

So what if the air war is equal or the opponent has more sky hunters?
Then you do the opposite, stay back and buy more sky hunters. 'But all
my units slots are filled', you say. No problem, just use that 'disband
unit' button to disband the useless units(yes, I'm talking about those
lv 0 seiges that could barely give a goblin a flesh wound).
Many players are afraid to disband units or don't think about it, 
but you should do it without thinking twice if you are disbanding a 
useless unit in order to win the air war. Disband as many units as you need
to get the numerical superiority. When buying air units, flying monkeys
and wing riders are good choices when you are running out of money
because they can do damage against most enemy sky hunters and are cheap. 
If you need stronger units, try harpies or shadow wings. Quantity is more
important than quality here. Don't waste all your money on 
strong units; choose a mix of strong and weak sky hunters, and use the weaker
ones as shields or to gang up on strong enemy units. Remember that your 
whirlwind spell can bring any enemy air unit to its knees, and if you then 
surround it with flying monkeys or wing riders, it will likely go down, 
even though those units are weak. 

Of course, these strategies counter each other, and a smart opponent
will see your air force and counter correctly. In that case, I would
just advise that you use strandard air force strategy as you would
in normal pbm play, remembering that winning the air war is the only
goal. I did not say it would be easy, all I said is that you can control
your own destiny without worrying too much about luck. If it comes down
to air force tactics, the better player will win. 

That leaves only one unanswered question:
What do you do with the ground units?

4) Keep the ground units out of the way, and keep them alive as long
as possible.

Your only purpose in the ground war is to hold your ground until the air
units can do their job. If you have better ground units than the enemy and
there are archers and seiges to help support your air force, you can
try to use the ground units to help win the air war. Otherwise, keep
them out of the way of the battle, aside from scouting purposes. 
And keep them near a town. Your only goal is to keep control of one town
so you can purchase reinforcements. The only other important use of the 
ground forces is as scouts to see where the enemy air units are. 

You can also use the ground forces as decoys. If the enemy has a much better
ground force, the opponent might try to attack your ground forces
and win the ground war. If there is a river, block it with your limited 
ground forces. Even a few decent ground forces should be able to hold
a river crossing. Often the opponent will try to cross the river for 
lack of any better options, and you should be able to weaken his stronger
forces if they attack across the river. Watch out for cavalry crossings 
on the flanks, that is the best way to overcome a river defense. If there
is no river, use the mountains or a swamp. As a last resort, use a forest or
rough terrain to keep cavalry charges from being effective. If there is nowhere to 
hide, run around the map and make the opponent chase your ground forces. 
If enemy sky hunters waste time attacking your ground forces, all the better!
Remember, the key is to keep them alive and worry about the air war.
Losing all your ground forces will make it harder for your air forces
to rest and recoup losses at towns. 

That covers the main aspects of autobuild play. Yes, there are variations
based on how aware of this strategy the opponent is, but if you stick
to the basics you should have a fighting chance! Remember, choose Aelcar
with no beastmaster or mechmaster, scout the enemy, buy up as many sky hunters
as you need to win the air war, and then spend your remaining money on 
bomberdiers. Keep your ground forces alive by running or defending tough ground
such as a river, and then use them to mop up once the heavy bombing starts. 

NEXT ISSUE: I want to hear from you! What aspects of strategy do you want 
me to write about? I will continue to pick my own, but if any of you need
help on something specific, let me know. Topics covered in previous issues
include "Using Spellcasters effectively", "Using junk units effectively", 
and "Defending against junk unit use".

Suggestions, thoughts, and feedback on my strategy articles is always welcome!

Regards,

BloodLord the Lich
FG Laddermaster
E-mail: "nvayn@chesco.com"
ICQ 8062414