News / Submit
Archives
Articles

KIS Home
Reviews
Info
Screenshots
Background
Story of Kohan
Factions
Heroes
Units
Spells
Terrain
Buildings
Technology
Official KIS AI

Ahriman's Gift / Battles of Ahriman

Fan Fiction
Strategy
Editing
Cheats & Tips
Walkthroughs (KIS)
Kohan University

Forums
Staff
Player Gallery
Clans
Contests & Tourneys
Links

A Proud Member of

StrategyPlanet

 




Nationalist Strategies

 [Kalisari's Tactics] [Nulak's Tactics] [Nulak's Tactics-Military] [Orional's Tactics] [Rapid's Tactics]
[Terra Kahn's Tactics] [Wyldrage's Tactics]

Terra Khan's Tactics: Nationalists

INTRODUCTION

While not a Beta tester, at this point I've played Nationalist in a lot of games. Too many. Thanks to experimentation and advice, I think I've got a pretty good handle on them. I've won games with them, lost games with them, watched my Elites slaughter and be slaughtered. This is the first of a series of articles in which I hope to share some of what I've learned - although, of course, you have the right to completely disagree. These articles are geared towards teamplay, as I generally prefer 3v3 and 4v4 on large maps. However, I will try to point out considerations for smaller maps where appropriate.

Confessions of an ex-Nationalist: Part 1, Manifest Destiny

Of the 3 'normal' factions, Nationalist requires the most radically different style of play. The reason is simple: they have extremely expensive upgrades and a 'bonus' extra component slot. They also can only have one company at the beginning of the game. These three factors mean that if you attempt to do a standard Council or Royalist start, you will almost certainly stagnate and never fully recover.

The first thing you should take into consideration as a Nationalist is that the cost of Settlers is MUCH cheaper than the cost of an upgrade. If you awaken a Hero (recommended), it's even cheaper. Also note that since you start with 2 component slots, you will have to build 2 components before you even have the option of upgrading. This means upgrading a city is considerably more expensive and time consuming for Nationalists than for any other faction.

Now, the kicker is that a new settlement gains 2 new component slots due to your +1 component faction advantage... and you only receive 2 slots with that ultra-expensive upgrade.

Thus the math is simple: as a nationalist, you better have the Manifest Destiny in spades. Expand fast and hard. It is much more efficient to expand than upgrade.

Now, given that Nationalists can only field one company at the beginning of the game, it is my opinion that you have no choice but to make your first company settlers. You need to expand and Scouts simply won't cut it - especially since they can't even take an Independent. I also recommend against going for a military company as your first unit. Not only does this take awhile to build components for and heal, it may not do you any good. Even assuming you went for a Infantry/Mage combo with your 2 component slots, it's possible you'll lose against some Independents or, even worse, that you won't find an independent at all.

So, commission Settlers immediately after your first build order (I will discuss build strategy in a later article). As soon as you get 4 (no need for full health) charge them in press formation in the direction of your choice (preferably towards an ally). Keeping them in press formation is extremely important - trust me, you will learn to hate mountains and Slaan. Your goal is to find open land asap - as such I highly suggest playing with ZOP on. If you happen to find an Independent, take note and go back for it later when you have military. Once you find an open area expand to skirmish formation. Have a brief look around (I generally spend less than 5 seconds) and settle your second city in the most strategic spot you found in those few seconds.

Now, the other important thing to note about your cities is that upgrading a Nationalist settlement will give you a total of 4 slots. And 4 slots is the magic number: Blacksmith, Barracks, Library, Temple = Elite.

This means you can get Elite capability with only a single upgrade, which is an advantage over all other factions. Use it.

However, I do NOT recommend making your first city your Elite Military Base, but more on this in a later article.

Also note that 4 slots is enough for 2 other key city types: the Resource Maker (4 resource components upgraded for extra production) and the Money Maker (4 resource components upgraded for churning out cash).

Since expanding is cheaper than upgrading, the best route at the beginning to mid-game is to only upgrade the one city that you deem your military base. Leave the rest of your Nationalist settlements at 2 slots. Take over independents and use them. Ask for or 'buy' a non-Nationalist settlement from a teammate.

There are very few things that make upgrading a Nationalist settlement worth the cost (raising company count is definitely one of these, but expanding achieves the same goal for cheaper). The key to remember is that, from a cost perspective, a Nationalist settlement is the best buy on the map. Upgraded once, it can produce Elites. Upgrade more than once, and you can hear the gold flushing down the toilet. If you do have so much cash that you can upgrade cities for no reason, you should be giving it to your teammates.

If have a Citadel fetish, either get over it or do it with a non-Nationalist indy that you won via battle.

Be careful, because expanding may potentially leave you 'overextended' compared to other factions. Fortunately, this isn't as bad as it sounds. You should be able to afford to lose a city or two and not have it impact your economy since you'll only be losing 2 components per settlement.

 

Nationalist Strategies
[Kalisari's Tactics] [Nulak's Tactics] [Nulak's Tactics-Military] [Orional's Tactics] [Rapid's Tactics]
[Terra Kahn's Tactics] [Wyldrage's Tactics]