Hi Shazam,
There are many ways to play Imperia Online, but remember that this is first and foremost a battle game, not a city construction game.
therefore, all your efforts should go into recruiting and maintaining an army that can both attack and defend
let's be honest : you won't succeed all the time
there are many options and tactics, plus some random luck.
but if you have a firm grasp of the game mechanics and play sensibly (by the game's standard), then you shouldn't have too much problems progressing
Here are a few advices for you :
1) adopt a development strategy that fits your time availabilityno need to play long hours, but quick, frequent logins are a must
the less you play, the more defensive you need be
the more you play, the more offensive you can afford to be
2) a good defense imply 2 things
a) denying a profit to would-be attackers
b) strategic fog-of-war
to deny a profit means both preventing them from pillaging you (do not leave ressources in your fort beyond its vault capacity, just spend or convert it, especially so before you log out for several hours), and strengthening your defenses to the point that an attack becomes unprofitable (because of expected losses or outright defeat)
simple defense tactics include :raising your Fortification level
building Walls, Tower Defenses and Moat
filling your garrison with Archers (if light units) or Ballista (if Heavy / Elites + a small troops of swordsmen to absorb attacking archer's fire)
using a General whose skill set include Healer (to recover more troops after the battle), Fort Guardian (to increase the Fort's hit points), Tactical Garrison (to increase its size, and thus damage output) and Tactical defender (to increase defending troops's damages)
raising your Armor tech level to give more hitpoints to your troops
fortify your capital, by annexing all four adjacent provinces as soon as possible (Centralisation 4). this will give a -20 Morale penalty to all attackers. the annexation pattern should be like
x
x C x
x
leave a few troops (but not your main army !!) in the field with high defense/hit point capabilities (like swordsmen or cavalry) to force a field battle and decrease further the Morale of any attackers before the siege begins
the strategic fog-of-war includes all tactics to prevent your opponents from having a firm grasp of your true defense capabilities, either through Counter-Espionnage or hiding your main battle army and best general until you need them to ambush your attacker
Counter-Espionnage is both a research and a skill-set (Secret Agent)
the system is relatively simple : if one side has a value that is 5 levels or more than its opposing side, then it's a 100% success, no matter how many spies on either side are engaged
therefore, you need to strive to have a Counter-Espionnage value in both your capital and provinces that is as high as possible to deny your 5x opponents a chance to peek in
Eugenism is the simplest way to achieve this at low cost : marry Great People who have Secret Agent as an Inborn Talent and get the skill Secret Agent
the max bonus is +5 (Talent) and +5 (Skill)
some provinces add a +50% bonus to the skill too
http://prntscr.com/75e66slet's say that you have an Emperor with Secret Agent both as Talent (+3) and Skill (+5)
your Counter-Espionnage level is 13 with +3 from your Alliance researches
that gives you a basic value of 13 + 3 + 3 + 5 = 24
to this we need to add the province's bonus (but it can vary)
however, it means that you will be able to fend off all espionnage attempts by anyone with an Espionnage value of less 24-5 = 19
you invest 13 and you deflect against all players who invested 19 (less in practice due to Alliance research and skill Master Spy)
and you'll have high odds to do better against stronger players (those with Espionnage > 19 in my example), if you also leave spies in the field. of the capital mainly, but also some in your provinces, colonies, military and commercial posts too
at the very least, captured spies warn you of a possible impending attack !!
strategic fog-of-war is more complicated and means hiding your battle troops from sight
therefore they need to be on movement always, since spy reports only show stationary troops
on movement means either sent on mission to attack/plunder or in Expedition when you are offline
do not leave your troops at home when absent for long period, and always try to send them away from the safety of a military post (activate the option "Retreat" to provide some security)
hiding generals mean using a "fake" or just an average fortress commander in position, while keeping your good defensive general ready to replace him/her when you want to ambush your attacker
few things give as bad a surprise as changing your General from one with a low level, inefficient skill set, to one with +40% Fortress hit points (Fort Guardian Talent and Skill at +20% each) in the last 20s-15s before impact
http://prntscr.com/75e5yo2) networth and 2xplayers who attack outside their 2x have Honor and Morale penalties
that won't prevent some from attacking, but most will refrain
however, be warned that in Alliance War, Honor penalties are suspended and that you can attack another player in your 5x same way if it's a 1 strike retaliation (either because you have been attacked or one of your Dynastic Allies was)
therefore, you should strive to limit your networth growth to a level whose 2x players army strength is highly unlikely to break through your defensive preparations
a classic example are the players who reach Centralisation 6 and upgrade their troops to Heavy, recruiting catapults and go on to attack players in their 2x who are still in their Light units
they play fast and smart, and they deserve to profit from the fruits of their work
the responsibility is on the late-comers to develop by being out of range of those players
this will take a lot of game experience to find the right balance into building/researching/recruiting only what you really need to progress and thus "keep your points low"
troops cost 2x more networth than constructions or research, you should only recruit what troops are most adapted for the missions you want to use them for
not all researches and buildings are vital
all are important, but at different stages of the game
pace your development to keep your defense in line with how strong your would-be pillagers are
in a 4x World, a simple (but not perfect) guide is as follow
build a fort 3 right before exiting 200 points networth
you need a fort 4 before reaching 1000 points
you need a fort 5 before reaching 3000 points
you need a fort 6 before reaching 10k points
you need a fort 7 before reaching 60k points
you need a fort 8 before reaching 200k points
you need a fort 9 before reaching 800k points
it will all depend on your environment, but it's pretty much correct
your safety won't be 100%, it can never be because players are crafty and daring, but you sure will find it a lot easier to play "cool"
Have fun,
