|
I. Introduction
Scouting is a critical part of playing a solid game of
Kohan. I would go so far as to say that it is the most important aspect of
the early game. Teams that scout extensively (as in 3-4 scouts) have a
tactical advantage over teams that ignore or marginalize scouting. In
essence, the non-scouting team is fighting blind, while the scouting team
can determine - in advance - what they should be doing. And it is much
easier to win when you can see terrain that your opponent is blind to. For
example, once you know the lay of the land, you can control the map,
whether through taking neutral cities or lairs, or by posting chokepoints,
or by attacking multiple or remote settlements. Scouting, then, is
essential. In this exposition, I will examine the merits of the short
scout (a scout company with no support elements) and the short shade (a
shade company with no support elements). My main point is that scouting
should be worked into every starting build. If your build does not make
arrangements for scouting, then it is incomplete. Should two or three
players on the same team refuse to scout because it does not fit into
their starting builds, then that team is at a serious disadvantage.
Scouting is simply that important.
II. The Statistics of Scouting
A scout is a lightly armed horseman. This translates to an
attack value of 18, a defensive value of 8, and a movement rating of 32.
As you can see, scouts are light troops. They are not designed to be a
main attack force. Each scout has an upkeep of one wood, and has 250 hit
points. Their special ability increases the company’s visual range by
110%. A short scout with no hero costs 39 gold. With a Kohan, the
commission cost is reduced to 24. If the scout is recruited from a
settlement with a carpentry guild, its price will drop. A non-hero scout
will cost 27 gold, while a scout with a hero captain is only 12 gold.
Shades are also cheap, fast, light units. A shade has an
attack value of 14, a defense value of 6, a movement rating of 26, and an
upkeep of 1 stone. Each shadeling will have only 110 hit points. Their low
attack rating is somewhat improved by their high rate of attack (136%),
but shades usually die before they can do much damage. They have a very
low defense rating to begin with, which is further reduced if the source
of damage is khaldunite (damage increased by 125%), magic (125%), or holy
(150%). Ranged attacks only do 75% damage. A short shade costs 24 gold, or
12 with a Kohan. Except for some exceptional cases, though, I would advise
against putting a hero on a shade company, because it negates the shade’s
trailblazing ability. Trailblazing lets the shade pass through any terrain
without any movement modifiers, so it can move through the desert or hills
just as quickly as if it were passing through an open field. Putting a
hero on a shade company takes away the trailblazing ability, which slows
the company down.
III. When to Make Short Scouts/Shades
Here is my rule of thumb: the earlier you make your scouts,
the better. In most cases, it is better to make a short company (that is,
only 4 scouts) than a long one (6 scouts). I will go into more detail
later, but essentially it is more efficient to put the scouts in pressed
formation when scouting, so the extra two scouts will not be making much
of a difference. There are times when long scouts can be more useful
(military reasons), but in most cases a short company is good enough. I
will now go over the factions one by one, because each one has strengths
and weaknesses when it comes to scouting.
Council
In most cases, a council player should scout. In fact, it is
usually quite easy to make a scout, since most builds involve building a
carpentry guild in the main settlement. After the carpentry guild is
complete, a scout can be commissioned. Unless you are rushing, company
limit should not be an issue. Typical dragoon builds should always have a
short scout to complement them. Since the dragoon only takes up one
company limit slot, the scouts are not an issue. And what about builds
that emphasize economy? There is no excuse not to scout if you are not
going to have an early military. Any player that decides to econ should
automatically make a scout. For council, this means adjusting the common 3
short footmen build so that it is 2 long footmen and a short scout
(otherwise, you will be over the company limit).
Royalist
The royalist faction’s biggest strength when it comes to
scouting is its additional company limit slots. A short scout should never
be a problem for a royal player. Of the three Mareten factions, they are
in the best position to scout. Since they have two company limit slots at
the start of the game, royalists have the option of either double settling
(making 2 settlers right away), or making one settler and one scout. It is
possible, then, for the royalists to get a significant jump on scouting if
they do it right away. By the time a typical nationalist or council player
would have built a scout, the royalist could have already explored a
significant portion of the map. Some players object that royals should not
have to scout since they do not have strong economies like the council or
nationalist faction. Their point is valid, but a scout will often pay
itself off (either in information or lair gold), so having a low economy
is no excuse not to scout. A typical dragoon and horse archer build can be
easily adapted so that a scout can be commissioned immediately. Even the
lancer/ranger build can be adapted, although not as effectively. In most
cases, it is to your benefit to let your economy suffer for a short period
of time in order to make a scouting company.
Nationalist
The nationalist faction’s biggest weakness when it comes to
scouting is its low company limit. Most players will not upgrade their
main settlement, so the nationals usually end up with a lower company
limit than their council counterparts. Some players argue that the
nationalist faction should never scout, because it is a waste of a company
limit slot. I reply that a scout is never a waste of a slot, so
nationalists should scout often. Sometimes the only way to accomplish this
is to scout after making a second expansion (3 settlements total), so that
the scout and early army (usually a dragoon) will only occupy two of three
slots. In any case, any player intending to make only one dragoon company
should be scouting. A number of builds exist that can achieve this. You
can make two expansions, commission the dragoon from the first expansion,
and the scout from the second. Or you can buy a royalist village from a
player and make only one expansion (this build involves making the dragoon
from your expansion nationalist village, and putting a workshop in the
royalist village). Buying a royalist or ceyah village is always a good
idea when playing as nationalist, because they increase the company limit,
and let you easily commission a scout (or shade, if you buy a ceyah).
Other builds, such as those involving two dragoons, should try to involve
scouting, unless their goal is an early rush that will involve the use of
all company limit slots.
Ceyah
The ceyah faction should almost always scout. A short shade is
cheap, and has a tiny four stone upkeep. A ceyah player’s high company
limit lets him easily have a shade in addition to his main army. Like the
royalist faction, a ceyah player has the option of double settling, or
scouting early. Shades have the added advantage of being a trailblazing
unit, so they can move over all terrains at a quick pace (unless you add a
non-trailblazing Kohan as captain). The only time a ceyah player should
even consider not making shades is when the majority of the team is ceyah.
If the opponent team sees four different coloured shades early on in the
game, it will already know what to expect without even having to scout.
Still, in this case, it is beneficial to have a shade. First of all, not
all the shades have to scout forward. Only one or two can be looking for
the enemy, while the others can focus on the backfield. Secondly, the
shades are useful for military reasons such as flanking (which will be
discussed later on). Thirdly, if the other team is any good, they will
probably realize that you are all ceyah in less than ten minutes. Typical
skeleton warrior builds usually have the extra company limit to make a
scout. All shadow beast builds also have the extra limit. Unless you are
planning an all-out rush that will occupy your entire company limit, then,
a shade should always be made.
IV. How to Scout
The most efficient method of scouting involves moving your
company around in pressed formation. Because it is in pressed mode, it
will avoid attacking any monsters or opponents. As well, it will move at a
quicker speed. When a scout is built, move it around the edges of your
supply zone (of your main settlement) in skirmish mode while it is
healing. You should be able to see if any population zones are attached to
your own. If so, press your scout into the unexplored zone to see what you
find. Make sure you scout around all the edges of your settlements.
I have been in many games where a player missed out on a four slot
independent town right on his doorstep because he was too lazy to scout.
Once you have explored the region immediately surrounding your
settlements, you have a number of options. You can press the scout forward
to find an opponent, or press it in the opposite direction to scout your
backfield. Ideally, everyone should be scouting, so your team can split up
the map and assign areas to scout. However, it is more often the case that
only one or two on a team will scout. So now you have to make a decision:
should you scout in front or behind? There is no universal answer, but a
number of factors should affect your decision.
1) Your Starting Position: if you suspect that you are close to an
opponent, find him first. If you are frontline, and you have allies behind
you, let them explore in back, while you move up.
2) The Map Settings: the map size and the number of lairs and towns
should affect your decision. For example, if you are playing a 320x320 map
with maximum settings, then in most cases you should not expect to be
rushed. You will probably have time to scout out a few independent towns
before focusing on your opponent. On smaller maps you should usually try
to find your opponent quickly. On maps with no independent towns, you
should try to scout enemy population zones immediately.
3) Kohan - Heroes like Cyrus and Adellon are ideal at harassing
settlers. Scouts with these heroes should head straight for the opponent.
Once you decide where you are going to explore, your goal is
to keep your scouts/shades alive. By keeping them in press, you can avoid
bees, lairs, and towns. Beware of golem and spider lairs, as they often
destroy scouts. (If you do not put a Kohan on your scouts, it is often
wise to wait for at least three of the individual scouts to heal....that
way one can escape spiders). If you ever do lose a scout, rebuild it.
Rebuild every time you lose them in the early game. The lairs that killed
them will eventually repay the cost. Communicate to your allies everything
you find. Tell them about lairs that need to be taken, towns you find,
what faction opponents are, etc.. When you manage to find an opponent, you
need to concentrate more on micro-ing your scouts. Find his main town
(usually the one with outposts around it). Be careful, as the outpost
archers will shoot at you, so do not go near them if your scout is low on
health. Heal up first and come back. When you scout an enemy town, press
your company in a circle all the way around it, and close enough so
that you can see all edges of the town. This will allow you to know if
there are any outposts around the town. If you do not scout the backside
of a town, you will sometimes find that there are two outposts where you
thought there would only be one. Usually that is enough to frustrate an
offensive attack.
It is important when you find an opponent to scout as many
of his settlements as possible. Do not stop once you find one of his
towns. Press around that region and expose as many villages and towns as
possible. You are accomplishing two things: a) you make the enemy worried
that he will be attacked in one of those places, and b) you now have a
choice about where you can attack. When you are finished scouting an
opponent’s towns, move on to another opponent. To accomplish this level of
scouting, you need to personally control them - without waypoints. They
have to avoid enemy militia to survive. Often, your attention will be
required in other places. With practice, though, you will learn to keep
the scouts alive longer, and make them more useful.
On a similar note, I would like to point out that the common
super scout build for council (which commissions 2x scout/ranger/ranger)
is not a substitute for scouting, unless you intend to press your
scout/rangers as described above. However, that would be a waste of
resources, as the scout/rangers are better used to take lairs, towns, and
opponents. A short scout, in addition to the scout rangers, would improve
the build.
V.
Scouts and Heroes
Kohan can be useful on scouts. They are not as useful on
shades, because the shades will often lose their trailblazing ability. If
you commission a scout with a Kohan, it is ready to move as soon as it is
made. Hero captains are created with full health, so as you move through
your supply zone at least 1 scout will heal before you move into
unexplored terrain. Heroes add toughness to the scout - it is easy to kill
a scout, but more difficult to get the Kohan captain. So scouts with Kohan
tend to survive longer, because it is easier to keep them alive. Also, the
Kohan makes the scout more versatile - the company obtains a military
function, because the Kohan’s ability will be invoked when the scout
enters combat. I will go into further detail by describing the type of
Kohan and their strengths on scouts.
1) Freezing Kohan - such as Yss Tok and Amber. These Kohan are
great on short scouts. They are also great on fast units like scout/ranger
or lancer/ranger. If you put Amber or Yss Tok on a short scout, the
company is now a champion flanker. Amber freezes individual units - one at
a time. So ideally, when an opponent’s unit engages your own army (for
example, their dragoon engages yours), you can move amber behind their
dragoon (make sure you do this in press mode, so the scout will not engage
too early). As soon as amber is behind the enemy company, position her so
that she is near (but not touching), the company captain (usually a
Kohan). Then take your scout company out of press formation. Amber will
now cast her ice spell, and in the ideal situation will freeze the enemy
captain while your scouts harass him/her. Amber is also useful for chasing
down damaged companies. If you are attacked, and your opponent’s army
routs, amber scouts can freeze fleeing units (ideally hero captains) so
that they can be killed. Yss Tok is similar to Amber, but entangles more
units for a shorter period of time. Yss also summons a pair of bees to
harass her target.
2) Summoner Kohan - a.k.a. Cyrus. Cyrus is my favourite scout
Kohan. The scout company becomes a mobile golem-summoning platform.
Usually, a royalist player will open Cyrus, so he will have the option of
immediately making a Cyrus scout. If he does, he can often find an
opponent and attack his settlers. If you find enemy settlers, keep
summoning golems, all the while retreating the company until a new golem
is needed. Facing a Cyrus scout a minute and a half into the game can be
extremely frustrating for an opponent. If he is a nationalist, you
might be able to keep him from settling for as long as you want. Cyrus is
also a good flanker. You can press the scout behind an enemy Kohan and
summon a golem, which will proceed to attack the enemy Kohan. Cyrus scouts
can also delay an opponent when he attacks you, as he will have to keep
killing the golems. As a scout captain, Cyrus buys you time to respond to
attacks, and is in my opinion the best scouting captain there is.
3) Melee Kohan - Melee Kohan can add punch to a scout when it
flanks (just be sure not to keep the scout in press all the time, or the
melee Kohan will do minimal damage). They also make the company tougher,
because they tend to have lots of hit points.
4) Archer Kohan - also good flankers. They stay out of the fight,
(ranged attack), but still dish out some good damage. Xerxes and Seth add
trailblazing, which can also be useful (although you may consider putting
these Kohan on other companies)
5) Mage Kohan - Fireball shooters like Adellon, Balthasar, and Hss
Rak are great at killing enemy Kohan, because they can flank and shoot
directly at their target. The fireballs are also powerful enough to harass
settlers.
6) Kohan You Probably should not Scout with - healer Kohan:
(Thora, Sarai, Naava, Leila, etc..) Healer Kohan are best-used on melee
fighting companies. Usually, in the early game, that means dragoons.
Scouts are too weak to merit the use of a healer Kohan. Blessing Kohan:
(Sadira, Kendra, Darius, Dylan, Ravid, Roxana, etc..) Again, these
Kohan are best used on troops that will do a lot of fighting. Short scouts
are too light to warrant the use of these Kohan.
7) Other - Sofiya: Sofiya is great on dragoons. I have never
seen her on a short scout, but she could be useful on one, as she manages
to freeze units for a short time. Still, she is probably more useful on
other companies (scout/ranger or dragoon). Vulgari: I have never
seen Vulgari on a shade, but it might be useful due to his stun ability.
The shades would dies quickly though, so it can be more efficient to keep
Vulgari on a tougher unit, like a skeleton warrior. Xerxes and Seth
- Trailblazing is great on scouts, but it can be more useful on units like
dragoons.
VI. Scouting Tactics
Scouts/Shades can be used for more than scouting and flanking. Below is a
list of what short scouts can do. I have replicated the list (with some
modification) from a post on kohan.net by Lan and Broknsword, because I
think it is the most comprehensive catalogue of the uses of a short scout
company.
1) Scout - If you have not figured this out by now, I suggest you
read this whole essay over again.
2) Harass enemy settlers - attacking his settlers throws off his
build schedule, and time lost by him is time gained by you.
3) Attack Unprotected Mines - If a mine is far enough away from a
settlement’s guard zone, you can send your short scout to attack it and
then raze it. This throws off your opponent’s economy until he can rebuild
the mine, which you can raze again unless he stations a company there or
makes an outpost. You are basically forcing him to spend more of his gold
than he would otherwise have to.
4) Protecting your Kohan - If you have a casting Kohan such as
Naava or Thora, it is likely that your opponent will attempt a flank. By
positioning your short scout in column or skirmish mode behind your caster
Kohan, you can maneuver it to block attempted flanks. If the opponent
presses his units past your scouts, you should have enough time to retreat
your Kohan if it is necessary.
5) Flanking - A short scout can engage enemy Kohan to keep them
from casting their spells.
6) Pursue Routing Companies - If you thwart an opponent’s attack,
and his units rout, the scout can be sent to harass the units while they
try to make their way back to a supply zone. Oftentimes the unit will rout
back towards your own army, which can then kill it. Kohan like Amber and
Yss Tok excel at this function.
7) Be a Meat-Shield - A scout can engage first before the rest of
your force to soak up the initial fireball/lighting volleys. Since they
are such light troops, they make good fodder. Be careful not to get your
scout killed though.
8) Delaying Tactics - Scouts are great delayers, given a little
micro ability. Lets assume a dragoon company hits your village in back,
and there is no way your reaction force can arrive in time before he razes
the village. However, you happen to have a short scout nearby. You can
press the scout until it reaches the dragoon unit. Now comes the micro
part: take the scout out of press, and watch the dragoons move to attack
it. Now retreat the scout farther back (only a little farther), so the
dragoons chase it. Keep retreating the scouts to delay (note: in current
online games, moving your scouts around in pressed mode so that the
dragoons chase it is considered illegal). Also, if multiple units are
attacking your village, and one is engaging your army while the other is
hacking away at your village, you can spare the scout to engage and delay
the unit taking your settlement.
9) Lair Hunting - Short scouts can take free lairs, and often pay
themselves off this way. Full scouts with melee Kohan can take smaller
lairs (such as a full scout with Thaddeus against skeleton lairs).
10) Luring - Engage the scouts with the target you want to lure. As
soon as they engage, retreat your scouts back. You will draw your target
(enemy militia, lairs, etc...) out after you. This tactic can also be used
to lure a company away from its captain (if the captain is on command
mode), so that you can flank it more easily.
11) Radar - Scouts can give you early warnings of enemy activity.
Keep them at the edge of a settlement you just conquered if you are
expecting it to be hit by an opponent. The scouts will engage before the
militia does, giving you time to assess his army and make a decision to
keep or raze the settlement. You can also keep scouts patrolling across a
small region to see if an opponent will pass by.
12) Harassment - Aside from harassing retreating units, scouts and
other light fodder can be sent to attack towns where your opponent’s army
is healing. Since you cannot expect your scout to win the fight, your only
goal is to delay the enemy army’s healing time. Retreat the scout before
it dies (note: be careful if his army is predominantly archer based).
VII. Conclusion
Scouts are more than just explorers. They have a multiplicity of functions
that make them useful in all parts of the game. They are a significant
part of the early game, when the map is largely unexplored. Knowing the
terrain gives you a critical tactical advantage, because you will have
more options than your opponent does. But scouts also play a considerable
role in the military aspect of the game, whether it is through delaying,
harassing, or flanking. All builds, then, should involve the commissioning
of a short scout or shade as early as possible, with very few exceptions.
Scouting provides direction, and is critical to winning a game.
- Feanor
|
