Guide:SoM

This is part of the Utopia WIKI Mini Guide Series.

THIS PAGE describes a game mechanism - Guide:SoM in utopia. It also aims to discuss the implications of this game mechanism & how others have utilized it. To discuss further implications or ask questions with regards to Guide:SoM, be sure to check out the discussions page.

What is a SoM?

A SoM is a Spy on Military Report of a target, reflecting his military affairs page.

You get SoMs for several reasons

• To determine your target's defense at home (if he has armies out).
• To determine how long his army is out for.
• To determine what sort of troops your target is training.

How Accurate is a SoM?

Value reported in SoM(s) = True Value x Whole number integer* 
  * Ranging between 75 to 125%.

In the new code, the formula for how SoM values are calculated has been changed. The max range is still 75%-125%, but it's not as simple as the formula above anymore. It has been speculated that the change was addition of more decimals (example: 75.000%-125.000%) but there's no evidence for that being true. The range shrinks depending on how many thieves are sent. The lowest possible range you can achieve is 3% in both directions.

What Values ARE accurate in a SoM?

The only values on a SoM which are accurate reported is:

• Army out time
• If a 0 is present - for example, if it shows that Elites home = 0, then it is certain that your target has sent all his elites out on an attack. You may cast a Crystal Ball to determine how many elites he has.

How do I Get an Accurate Defense from a SoM?

!	The information or formula below is not up to date. Please refer to the discussions tab to contribute to ongoing research or start a new topic.

#1 With < 10 thieves, take 2 SoMs
#2 Note the value you want translated (e.g. Net defense at home) on the 2 SoMs
#3 Run the values through a SoM Translator

If target is a monarch and you are at war/hostile, you need to manually add the +10% bonus.

SoM translators no longer work with the new code. New SoM translators will work on the principle of trying to narrow the range of possible values, rather than finding an exact one. Narrowing the range builds on the knowledge of what the max deviation from the real numbers are. As an example, if you have 2 SoM's that show net defense at home as 23000 and 22000 respectively:

23000 gives minimum value = 23000/1.25 = 18400 and maximum value = 23000/0.75 = 30667 22000 gives minimum value = 17600 and maximum value = 29333

The real value has to be within the ranges for both of the above numbers, so you now have a slightly more narrow range of 18400 to 29333.

A CB can be used to extract more information from the SoM's, since if you know the total amount of elites the province has, you can use the elites home from the SoM to calculate a new value of how many elites sent out. You can also do the same with elites out to calculate how many are home. If you do that you suddenly have 5 numbers to use for narrowing the range, rather than the 3 you normally get from a SoM. The elite counts can be used to subtract defense out from the total defense found in the CB.

Also, do note that sending more thieves decreases the range, which means you get a much more narrow range to start with.

Explain SoM Translators to me!

What SoM translators do is that they run SoM values values through a table, multiplying it from 0.75 to 1.25, and match up the output values from the first and second SoM to determine the exact translated value.

When May SoM Translators be used?

SoM translations may be used for any value on the "Spy on Military" page such as:-

• Defence at home.
• Infiltrate values, to determine exact number of thieves a province has.
• Spec and Elite values on Armies Out in SoMs, to figure out how many soldiers and specs were sent off in an attack, to calculate your Ambush.

Where Can I find SoM Translators?

1. Download the program - Valerarren's SoM+SoM translator is hosted here.
2. Use the SoM translators on external sites - DragonPortal SoM+SoM Calculator, AllianceRankings SoM+SoM Calculator
3. Use a War Bot on IRC - Public War Bots may be found in #strategy or #addicted.

FAQ

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How Accurate are SoM+SoM Translations?

!	The information or formula below is not up to date. Please refer to the discussions tab to contribute to ongoing research or start a new topic.

SoM translations are 100% accurate. A SoM + SoM translation is more accurate than Angel's CB+SoM translation.

As explained above, SoM translation no longer works the same way. You will only be able to get a range of possible values in the new code.

I get Too Many Values from a SoM translation!

If you get multiple answers, get another SoM Value and add the third value to your translator.

I don't get Any Values from a SoM translation!

If you get NO answers from the first two values, then the target's true defense changed in between the time you took to obtain the first and second value.

These are some possibilities:

• Hour just changed and he had defense in training.
• His defensive military efficiency changed; either he got hit or he casted Town Watch or Minor/Greater Protection.
• His defense changed due to soldier aid.

I don't get it, why can't I just send 1000 thieves for a closer estimate?

Even if you send more thieves, there is a margin of error, with a minimum of ~10%. Furthermore, if you fail an op, that leads to thief losses. If you send 8 thieves and fail an op, you lose 0 thieves. You really are aiming for 2 SoM values of a large range, which leads to one true translated value.

Angel's CB+SoM Translation bugs

If your target has Town Watch, Aggression or Fanaticism on, your CB + SoM will be (untranslatable). It will also not translate if the target has armies out with multiple return times.

External Links

1. SoM Translation Guide http://www.angelfire.com/dbz/puppyluv/SOMtrans.htm
2. Valerraren's SoM Translator http://alliancerankings.com/forum/downloads.php?do=file&id=19&act=down
3. DragonPortal's SoM Translator http://thedragonportal.net/