Military

Conflict is at the heart and soul of the fine world of Utopia. While peace has it's place, combat is what makes the world go 'round here. Conquering others is your way of making a name for yourself around the world. But beware -- too many enemies and you may not live to see tomorrow. I cannot make you a masterful leader - that can only be learned through experiences of success and patience through failures, but I will share what I can.

Understanding Attacks

With risk comes reward. Remember this forever during your time here in Utopia. There will be plenty of opportunities to attack the smaller, weaker lands around the world. There will be plenty of bullies looking to attack you. There will be plenty of chances to feed on the remains of provinces ravished by others. The Lords understand this is not noble, and they will see to it that this behavior is not rewarded.

You will quickly find that attacking others of similar networth to yourself will be richly rewarded. Attack smaller enemies and you will suffer a variety of penalties - gaining less and finding your army away for long periods. You will also find that attacking within your own kingdom has few, if any, rewards.

Attack Times

Attacks are missions which take both time and effort to carry out, and subsequent rest for your military forces. Attacks will require about 16 days to complete -- this includes time spent attacking, resting, and preparing your new land or other resources for use. A variety of factors can affect this base time, including the size of your opponents. Attacking vastly different size opponents will result in higher attack times. You will find this information shown on the Attack Menu within your War Room.

Other Factors: War Horses, Mercenaries, and the Plague

War Horses are produced from stables and allow your military to fight with more power. You may include up to one horse per military unit sent in combat, and each offers an additional point of offensive strength.

In addition to your own troops, you will may also hire mercenaries to help in attacks. These mercenaries are paid to serve under you for only a single attack. For a hefty price, these can increase your attack capabilities substantially. You will also learn that you can capture and hold enemy prisoners of war to serve as free mercenaries through the construction of Dungeons on your lands.

Both Orcs and Undead are races of creatures who carry a rare disease known in Utopia simply as The Plague. Anytime you interact with a province carrying the plague, you risk contracting it. The plague has the following penalties:

• No Population Growth
• 15% Lower Tax Collection
• 15% Lower Defensive Military Effectiveness

The plague will naturally be cured in an average of 10 to 12 Utopian Days -- at most, no more than 1 Utopian Month. The Nature's Blessing spell also has a chance of curing the plague from all your lands.

Your Attack Options

Traditional March

The standard attack - captures a portion of enemy lands.

Raze

Simply destroys a portion of the enemy lands and is not affected by differing province sizes.

Plunder

Captures some of an enemy's gold, food, and runes.

Learn

Captures a portion of an opponent's science reserves.

Massacre

Rampages through a province killing any population that can be found, including peasants, wizards, and thieves.

Conquest

Similar to a Traditional March, but does not need to be fully successful to capture land. Often is limited to opponents very similar in size to yourself.

Ambush

Can be conducted against a province that has recently captured land from you. Strike an opponent's army away from home and recaptures 50% of the land stolen from you. Because of its surprise nature, no offensive or defensive modifiers are considered - only raw military strength - and the defense will fight at 80% of its normal capacity. Specialists in the opposing army will defend with their normal offensive strength. A province attacking anonymously or using War Spoils cannot be ambushed, and an army can only be ambushed once.