Hello,

I have been playing for a few weeks and here is a couple things i think may be helpful for newcomers when playing ranked

1) This is a good way to minimise cheaters.
2)This also helps you get familiar to battle with other human players in a time efficient way.
3) you can play efficiently
I will explain what to do, then, I will explain why.


First of all, go into settings and turn character animations off. Having this on will waste lots of your time in game. Just turn it off.
If you are playing on Computer with Mouse and Keyboard, this is actually superior. You can use the keyboards Return stroke to fast cycle attacks on your enemy.
strike it once, you attack, choose your deployment amount, strike the keyboard again. if you are just trying to move fast across the board and are happy to leave one piece on each territory, this is really fast, you just keep striking return, then click the next territory, and do it again. If you are not doing this, or have not tried this, just open up a game against the computer to test it before ranked and see how aggressively/quickly you can assault across the map. You will appreciate this knowledge I am sure (if you didn't already try it). I noticed I must be playing people on tablets or phones, because sometimes their attacks are really drawn out. It may seem a little OTT on those players, but... this is a war game. The option is there for you to use it, should you feel the need.

now, about ranked. Heres the steps.

>Start setting up your own match
>Set AI to Medium
>set Card trade ins to progressive
>Ensure you create space for only one other human by deleting the 2 other players spots that will be there
>Add 3 AI players (you can add 4, but i think 3 is quite a good number in relation to card collecting and trade-in defence)
>now you have a total of 2 humans and 3 AI players (5 total players)

this appears to be the best method i have found until i got to master. I have noticed that the higher the AI is set, the more likely you are to have bad rolls in attack. When set to Medium the rolls seem quite smooth, where as above medium you are clearly playing at a disadvantage. Another reason is that when the AI is set to Medium, it will push on other players in its vicinity, but wont go completely wild in attack crossing the map to collect cards. It plays quite reserved and steady, which i think is quite a good way to play the game generally, but there will be times when you will just want to go all out and defeat another player, and when the AI has the opportunity, it does not do this.

This means there are only 2 players who are going to have this ability, the human opponent, and yourself. This means you can keep an eye on your enemy without having to worry too much that the AI is going to savage you before you get to grips with actually fighting a human. Now, there is 2 reasons why I suggest only having 1 Human. I have noticed that people can play with multiple accounts. they will set up a match, you will be in the lobby, and just before they start the game they add another human who arrives instantly. they then both attack you. basically a 2nd account to boost their primary because they are desperate for rank. some people might even have the lobby pre-set up with their other device already in the lobby. not every player is like this, but there are a some. I prefer to monitor my own ability and learning so this is not some thing i have tried. It wont help you get good at this game, and this game really is about intelligence and decisions. You will get where you are going in your own time, no point cheating. Don't get caught out like i did for a few matches playing these losers. with my tips, you can at least know you are only playing individual players and there is no risk of gang attacking or boosting.

I mentioned about having 3 AI players as I believed that was a nice number. Here is the reason why. In optimal conditions, it would be hoped that both you and your enemy only defeat one other player each to collect their cards, then use those cards to attack the 5th remaining player and get their cards. it means that at best, the result of card collections is 3/2 in end of match. Of course there are plenty of variables and you should not expect this as default. But I have found it a successful technique to mitigate strong opponents going on a card collecting spree and you being cornered. This method seems the most reasonable for trying to combat this. It may not mean much now, but I think this is very important. I feel the best method for playing strangers is this one. If you set up the match, you can at least know that its a well rounded match which is not in favour of who ever gets the first trade it. Having progressive card trades turn on is how to play this way. I never bother having the other option on.

I went from the 2 millionth rank to about 23,000 since i played. i played around 100 rank matches. Hope this helps someone. I spent alot of time just playing on my own in single player when it was late at night and the servers were dead. This is also useful. I have played with my friend together on 2-6 player at mine too quite a few times so that has helped. Really good you can play with other people if they are visiting you. In UK time you seem to be able to get matches in a quick time from about 10am-1am. pretty sure im playing people all over the world but there has been times when lobby has been set up for ages and no one comes, you change maps, no one comes, and there is no matches you can join as no one is online.

Even if this doesn't seem to helpful to read, just try some of the things i mentioned to see for yourself. I think you will prefer knowing this knowledge than having to spend time figuring it all out.


Overall, great game. Really nice to enjoy a board game at my desk, alone, without having to spend a huge amount of time to organise a match/occasion. Great job SMG