The importance of sieges cannot be understated. Sieges provide all the necessary resources for upgrading everything in your town and producing troops. Adding to that, certain events require an amount of a specific resource to participate. Lastly, the higher your battle glory, the better rewards you will get in weekly rating **(update, August 2017:due to recent changes in the game that removed battle glory from bots, last point is not in effect)**. This article focuses on specific things related to sieges. However, it is rendered useless if you don’t follow some specific guidelines that will make the game easier for you. These guidelines are the result of bitter experience from older players. The most important of them is: **DON’T UPGRADE MILITARY TECHNOLOGY.** It will make AI defenses, both during sieges and events, very challenging for you. For a general view of things best done and things best avoided, I strongly suggest the amazing article written by VelikaMaca*** Game tips for absolute beginners.*** I consider my article a work in progress. It is far by finished, and new information may need to be added at some point. I would appreciate any help or suggestion in doing so. **AI ACCOUNTS: ** **1) How to identify an AI account:** AI accounts are easily identified. **Whenever you see a name with space between first and last name, it is an AI **(Andrew Peters, Samuel Rodriguez etc). The pictures used in an AI account are also quite characteristic and at some point you will be able to tell if an account is AI just by looking at the picture, but stick to the general rule of space to be sure. Another trait: level of AI accounts is always equal or similar to yours (for example, if your level is 15, you will encounter AIs level 14,15,16). **2) Frequency of appearance of AI accounts:** At the beginning, AIs are quite hard to find. The frequency rises with your level rising, so **around level 15 and after**, you’ll get enough of them.Even more so,clicking the battle button next to campaign around this level will always provide you AI accounts. **3) Why it is preferable to attack an AI account:** **a) Resources. **AI accounts will provide you with more than enough resources. Following a list of examples of what different AI levels provide to you(numbers are approximate and can of course vary): Level 14: 1000 wood, 600 stone, 850 iron, 2000 food Level 15: 1200 wood, 900 stone, 900 iron, 2200 food Level 20: 2500-3000 wood, 2500 stone, 1500 iron, 3000-4000 food Level 25: 3500-4500 wood, 2000-3000 stone, 2500 iron, 6000-7000 food Level 30: 3500-5000 wood, 3500-4000 stone,2500 iron,9000-10500 food Level 40: 10000-15000 wood, 8000-10000 stone,7000-10000 iron, 25000 food As expected, getting higher on level increases the resources provided. **b) Easier defenses** (analyzed further below). **c) No provoking of ill feelings between players: **At first levels, it seems like the game encourages new players to attack each other, by not providing any (or very few) AI accounts. This, though may unavoidable in some cases, is not a feasible solution. Around level 15 AI accounts start to appear much more often. Respect the toil a player has done to accumulate resources. Try to keep in mind that you were also low leveled at some point, and maybe constantly attacked and not so able to defend (or revenge) efficiently. Of course, respect should be mutual. **AI DEFENSES:** Defensive patterns repeat themselves, with insignificant variations. **Examples of AI defenses:** Level 14: Garrison level 3, 1 artillery trench(cannon), 1 artillery tower, 2 trenches, 2 watchtowers, 1 sniper tower Level 15: Garrison level 3, 1 cannon, 1 artillery tower, 2 trenches, 2 watchtowers, 1 sniper tower Level 20: Garrison level 3, 1 cannon, 1 artillery tower, 3 trenches, 3 watchtowers, 1 sniper tower Level 25: Garrison level 4, 1 cannon, 1 artillery tower, 4 trenches, 4 watchtowers, 2 sniper towers Level 30: Garrison level 4, 1 artillery tower, 4 trenches, 4 watchtowers, 2 sniper towers Level 40: Garrison level 5, 2 artillery towers, 4 trenches, 4 watchtowers, 2 sniper towers As you level up so do the defenses of AI. The troops an AI defense has are always the same: **line infantry, light infantry, heavy cavalry, dragoons, mortars**. The only variation is which ones you will encounter and at which numbers; a variation that doesn’t change anything, since your uniques will have no problem against any combination. That doesn't apply to defenses of real players: you will bleed to beat a defense of an active player and, most likely, he will come for revenge. So even if you don't agree with the respect part, it is to your best interest at the end of the day to avoid attacking real players, and thus wasting multiple premium troops,orders etc. **Points that should be noted: ** **a)**There is a trap in AI account level 15-16: often, they have** 2 bashibazouks in garrison(update:and old guard grenadiers)**. Can be defeated of course, but the chances of losing 1 of your uniques against them rise. So better to avoid AIs lvl 15-16, and opt for other level AI accounts when you are around that level(point updated thanks to raton18). **b)** As you may have noticed from the info above, at some point artillery trenches (cannons) disappear completely, and that doesn’t change ever again. This happens **exactly at level 27 **( AI defenses of level 26 are both with and without cannons). This brings us to the next point, since using your uniques is all it takes to defeat any AI defense easily and fast. **UNIQUES & EQUIPMENT:** Choosing your uniques is one of the most important things in the game. The opinions of course vary on which kind of troop can be considered most appropriate. I’ll try to present advantages and disadvantages of every option. (In line infantry category I also include national units,mortarmen,grenadiers) **Line infantry (rank 12):** Time per siege: 1-1:30 minutes Healing time: 12 hours Advantage: Strong, can be used with success during events that allow uniques Disadvantage: Slower in sieges **Heavy cavalry(rank 12):** Time per siege: 35-45 seconds Healing time: 12 hours Advantage: Fastest troop for sieges Disadvantage: Most of the times too weak for events which allow the use of uniques To be exact, events that allow use of uniques are not that common; but the advantage line infantry will give you in this case is quite significant. On the other hand, having heavy cavalry as uniques will accelerate your sieges in a non disputed way. But these are not the only options: unfortunately, I cannot provide any concrete information about light infantry and dragoons, since I don’t know anyone at this point using them as uniques(updated:**for light infantry,see comment of MasterofDef below**; I thank him for this contribution). Apart from the aforementioned choices, each nation has some special national units. I’ll use some certain nations as an example: Britain (highlanders, british grenadiers), France (imperial guards, voltiguers), Russia (preobrazhensky regiment, semyonovsky regiment), US (marines, minutemen). **Update**: National units do rank up (that wasn't the case for a long time), up to rank 5, but it takes more time/ experience for uniques to rank up. Right now, nationals are the best choice for someone who chooses line uniques.Both normal line infantry and nationals fully equipped units are more than capable of being successfully used in events(**check also koun4vi's comment below**,I thank him for this contribution). As for heavy cavalry and line infantry, both of them need protection and careful “handling” when you first use them, especially when you have 2-3 uniques. Put other troops in front of them (like normal line infantry) to “absorb” the majority of damage; a proposition I consider good for heavy cavalry is a “transition phase”, a combination of national units and heavy cavalry: put them in battle while you try to rank them up towards the end, when your lines start to run for melee. Gradually, you will fully replace lines with heavy cavalry totally able to destroy AI defenses and with minimum risk of losing them multiple times until this happens (a clever alternative of ranking up your **line uniques when you first starting to use them** is presented in** raton's comment below**, I thank him for this contribution). Of course, there isn’t a definite and absolute “recipe for success”. Different people try different things: all 5 uniques heavy cavalry, all 5 uniques line infantry, all 5 national units, but also combinations: 4 lines and 1 mortar, 3 lines,1 national and 1 mortar/grenadier, 2 lines and 3 heavy cavs, 3 lines and 2 cavs and so on. All these combinations have been proven successful, so it’s up to you to try different things and decide what suits you best. **EQUIPMENT: **Choose the appropriate munitions and weapons for the uniques you use.*** First thing you need to do is check the symbols upon each munition/weapon, so as to make sure the equipment you buy can be used by your uniques***. There are rifles and muskets that work specifically on light infantry(e.g. Huntsman rifle, Baker rifle), line infantry(e.g. Springfield M1795 musket), others for dragoons(e.g. Blunderbuss) and others for mortars(e.g. Coehorn mortar, Bombard). If you use line infantry and want to improve their melee, like many do, Charleville M1777 musket is the best option. Karabela is the best sword for heavy cavalry. ***At first, concentrate on silver equipment***, which you can get easily by asking for silver from friends. Pounds can be won in survival, but in low levels is quite challenging, so I suggest to wait a little bit before you try it. A disadvantage of silver equipment is that it is always lost if a unique dies, as opposed to pound equipment.*** For the places of Lieutenant, Cornet and Standard bearer,*** choose pictures similar to each other or easily identified by you during siege, to be able to check if you lose a unique or not. *Some standard combinations of equipment:* **(updated with screenshots)** **Line infantry: **drums, guard uniform, national colours, Charleville M1777 (**update:** Ferguson rifle is probably the best rifle in terms of quick melee,as it decreases bullets by 2, instead of 1 Charleville does. On the other hand, Charleville compensates this with the boost it provides in melee. I thank matt98sc for pointing this out). **Heavy cavalry:** guard uniform, bandages, cavalry saddle, Karabela **Mortars/Grenadiers:** grenadier hat, bandages, grenadier bag, Coehorn mortar *Keep in mind that some events provide munitions not anywhere else found, and more suitable to uniques; so some of the aforementioned can be replaced ***Examples/ Screenshots:*** **1)**These are the uniques I use for a very long time now, and I'm greatly satisfied with them: https://prnt.sc/mthsys The proper tactic for ***cavalry-uhlan uniques*** is using cav in front and uhlans behind, or a bit later on the battle. The speed of uhlans outmatches cavalry, so using cavalry in front, which has better evasion, creates a good shield for uhlans. The melee of uhlans is, evidently, unbelievably high. I believe this quite unpopular choice of uniques from me proves a point: that you can make it with every kind of troop in here; you just need to learn the mechanics of using them properly. Proper equipment for cavalry (bought with silver/pounds): https://prnt.sc/mthvw3 Some variations on uhlans equipment, from mediocre but cheap:https://prnt.sc/mthx9f https://prnt.sc/mthxog to one of the best existing: https://prnt.sc/mthy5x The medal on "Battle Achievements" gives a boost to every kind of uniques you have. It can be earned on some series of events. Caftans is also an event equipment, it cant be bought, as it is the thirteen flags. Uhlan saddle is a fitting equipment, but quite expensive (300 silver), and with high percentage of losing it. **2)** ***Variations of line equipment*** (provided by ***Balbu117*** and** *raton18***, I'm very grateful to both): a) best offered equipment in-game (mostly obtained through events): https://prnt.sc/mtvae3 https://prnt.sc/mu09rx b) equipment bought with silver/ pounds: https://prnt.sc/mu09yg https://prnt.sc/mtvbdr **Raton's extra suggestions:** "sieging equipment https://prnt.sc/mtvc9g, speed and damage above all, risky for fragile troops" "ranged combat equipment: http://prntscr.com/mtvcy8 " **3)** ***Grenadiers/ Mortars***: **HEROES: **Heroes are those who will ameliorate your uniques. You’ll find them in the tavern, and you can buy them with gold (except 1st one with silver). Combined with them, sieges will become even easier. Sometimes, the changes they make are slight or insignificant; but choosing an appropriate hero in accordance with what you use as uniques is still important. Heroes have ranks. Your aim is to get them to rank 12; this will happen by using them in sieges (1 experience point per every successful siege). ***Rank 12 will provide you 18 skill points in total, so that means you can’t open all his skills***. Think carefully which ones you will go for. **Carl Von Clausewitz:** The first hero you can get with silver. Carl has skills associated with light infantry and mortarmen; but most of his skills are associated with **ranged damage**( decrease of enemy’s, increase of yours). **Andrew Jackson:** Andrew is, as a friend calls him, the most versatile of all. His skills are the most appropriate if you **use mortarmen/grenadiers**, but he can also **heal friendly troops and protect them** (decrease of enemy’s melee damage, decrease of accuracy and evasion etc). **Joachim Murat:** An ambiguous choice of hero, Murat owns a bunch of skills that are associated** only with his improvement**. Still, I consider him the best option if you** use line (or light) infantry of any kind and want to improve/increase their melee damage.** **Peter Wittgenstein:** Peter’s skills are mostly divided in 2 categories:** improving light infantry or cavalry.** He is the most preferred hero if you opt for heavy cavalry. **Equipment of heroes** is a matter of minor importance, as it isn’t necessary. There are things of greater priority to buy first with gold (2nd and 3rd barrack, 2nd and 3rd artillery depot etc). If a suggestion should be made though,it's the obvious one: prefer weapons like pistols and so on, that **improve the ranged damage of your hero**. This way, hero can be used as an artillery strike, and make enemy troops start moving, thus leaving defensive towers etc unguarded for your troops to attack them. Even more, no matter how improved the melee damage of a hero is or how much life he has, against a full line of enemy soldiers it's more than certain that he will die, so keep him as far as you can to protect him. **YOUR DEFENSE:** ***Your defense has absolutely NO relation with AI defenses you encounter and does not affect the level of your town*.** That means you can have a maxed defense quite early. If you concentrate on upgrading only the basics (***Warehouses***, to raise the amount of resources your town can afford, ***Townhall***, which gives you the ability to upgrade anything else, and ***Defense***, garrison and defensive towers), you will be able to defend efficiently from a very early stage. Premium troops like Loyal Lusitanian Legion, Black Legionary and Skaraborg regiment are some of the best options at the moment to put outside garrison. In garrison, use some good melee lines combined with British Grenadiers. The chances of losing are never eliminated, but are far less if you put some extra effort in defense from the very beginning. As you advance in the game, you’ll discover more in relation to all the aforementioned. This article would not exist – or it would be very different – without the help (long or short conversations, suggestions and advices, in different degrees of course) of the following players: bee_skillet, konst_dm, koun4vi, raton18, Sh31t4n, Taquinerie, VelikaMaca, victor8sam, yaupci. And more than anyone else, drillseargent. Hope I didn’t forget anyone. A sincere and warm thank you to all of you. Best regards

brilliant article, very good researched with logic and easy to follow advices. in combination with VelikaMaca's Game tips for absolute beginners the best info about the game that you can get. many thanks to Elbowy for the work that he has done and the gift that he has given to all of us. Thanks a lot, mate

glad to have so helpful people here like VelikaMaca and Elbowy, the game would be different without people like this, thanks for this post, i think people can easely see how many time and effort you put into it and i hope that many people read it, it will help everyone a lot, great work :)

great guide. I wish to contribute a little point regarding light inf as unique ( I do not use them but I saw a guy used them in event a while ago) Light inf is vey weak without pound equips. If u can afford pound equip, u can get reload time down to 1 (using equip+general ability), which makes them fire like crazy. They can pump out a lot of damage in a short time, capable to stop cav charge from reaching ur line inf . However the drawback is glaring; u will run out of ammo very soon (less than 1 min into combat). Hope this helps.

good job and great guide elbowy.i want to mention that national units **can** be upggraded with science and they reach till rank 5.the only disadvantage is that if you change nation the new national unit will not get any upgrade (at least that happened till one month ago).healing time for lvl 5 uniques is 5 hours.

Very nice job !

Outstanding job, Elbowy! I am so glad that the game community has such players that will put their own time into helping others.

FANTASTIC! Thanks for sharing this Elbowy. Also thanks to all who provided input. This has helped greatly!

Very Nice topic Elbowy ! lots of good informations. Having a lot of xp for unique troops is damn hard..maybe to place them at the end of the battle as you mention ?

I think a major factor is what you use as uniques and how much do you have at the moment. For example, when you start and you have 2-3, if you opted for line infantry,heavy cavalry etc, (that means normal troops that have ranks), they require much protection and patience. Losing them quite often is unavoidable. If you use your national lines as uniques, you have a very strong troop that, even if you lose them, spends only half an hour in hospital. But there are advantages in choosing normal troops:heavy cavalry can wipe out everything in an AI defense in 30-40 secs after rank 7 more or less, and line infantry has more soldiers than your nationals (and of course equally able to wipe out defenses). Try different uniques and see what works for you. In the end, it comes down to be patient at start, protect your uniques as much as you can and wait a little bit; then your uniques are able to do pretty much everything. As for placing them later in battle, it is the best strategy to rank them up. It will take time,but the risk of losing them is minimum. Don't forget the importance of equipment also, so check thoroughly the munitions and choose the ones that match with your uniques.

i think it would be a good idea to use tin bullets for new uniques, i do it all the time when i have a new unique, right now changing from preobrazhensky regiment to line infantry, for the number adventange, and at last rank they even have more melee damage, evasion...many adventages in general, where do tin bullets fit in here? if you use tin bullets your new troops will take more time to charge with bayonets than other troops, so other troops will protect them, also, as the tin bullets add 5 range to your soldiers, the unique they have in front will take the shoots, as they will be stronger they wont die so fast (the unique in front), a little suggestion here to help with training low level uniques, when you think they can survive by themselves, remove tin bullets

great advices for all the players, amateurs,new or pro with details which help your skills!

Thank you very much, great article, I am level 15 and I told myself that AI in sieges should be hyper powerful at level 20 and up. I am reassured. Good job, it's a little Bible for me who is beginner.

Okay. I bet some of the new players are wondering about WHAT rank you're line infantry will be strong enough to take down AI bases by themselves. I have found that a national unique line infantry and a rank 9 normal unique line infantry to be sufficient to take down a level 20ish AI bases by themselves. However, they cannot do it without the use of silver equipment. fill all their spots with silver equpiment that increases health and melee (health first. WIth silver equipment, I was able to bring my rank 9 regular line up to 164 health.) Then they should be strong enough.

Raton18 gave me a very useful tip when I was training cav uniques. He told me to attack with a large number of uhlan (or heavy cav) along with your uniques. The higher the level of the cav, the less you will need to use. This strategy allowed me to train my cavalry very fast. This tip, thanks raton, will no doubt be of use to others with cavalry uniques.

great article!!! wish I had read this before starting. many thanks to the OP and all contibutors

> *Originally posted by **[Youwassup](/forums/721547/topics/856781?page=1#12520729)**:* > Ration18 gave me a very useful tip when I was training cav uniques. He told me to attack with a large number of uhlan (or heavy cav) along with your uniques. The higher the level of the cav, the less you will need to use. This strategy allowed me to train my cavalry very fast. This tip, thanks ration, will no doubt be of use to others with cavalry uniques. well yu can also use them to force light inf or grend into mele or even takeout canons

Might be a good idea to bring this topic back up to the top of the list for people to read

Thanks for bringing the topic back Youwassup, it might be a good opportunity for me to revise it and change it to recent updates/changes at some point. darkfang, if I knew this topic would work as a platform for show-offs to say what they did to someone, all covered in the excuse of helping (I didn't see any tip about strategy by the way, wasn't that why you wrote?), I probably wouldn't have written it. Please refrain from doing this here, I'm sure there are other, more suitable, forum posts.

You're right, I should've been more concise about what I wrote. I fixed it now.

Although a sticky it does not apear in my recent posts so UP it goes.

up