Conquer Club

Cartographer: dolomite13

An introduction to the Monsters map
In this world, wizards battle to become the most powerful. Beware, this journey is not without risk. You will need monsters as an army, but the monsters are in the shade of the stone that matters: The Powerstone. Capture the Powerstones and cast spells on your enemies in an ultimate attempt to reign over the Caverns of Power.

Classification
Size: Large – 88 regions.
Complexity: High, due to the features.
Maximum amount of players: 8

Features
- Starting positions, starting neutrals
- Killer neutrals: Mind Blast (resets to 3 neutral), every wizards Shield (resets to 8 neutral)
- Troop decay: Lightning Bolt (loses 2 per turn)
- Bombardments: Lightning Bolt bombards the Powerstones and every wizards Shield
- Auto-deploy: +1 per turn on every wizard
- Objective: Control all Powerstones for one round.

Borders
- All Monsters (Rev, Rox, etc.) have normal borders and assault adjacent monsters or Powerstones.
- Runebound Monsters one-way assault the Shield of the corresponding wizard, they also assault adjacent Monsters.
- Shield one-way assaults the wizard it protects.
- Wizards one-way assault their corresponding Runebound Monster (Rayden + Rog, etc.)
- Powerstones one-way assault their corresponding spells: Mind Blast and Lightning Bolt.
- Mind Blast one-way assaults every Runebound Monster.
- Lightning Bolt one-way bombards every Powerstone and every Shield.

Bonuses
- Wizard + corresponding Runebound Monster (+2 troops deploy)
- Powerstone (+3 troops deploy)
- Wizard (+1 autodeploy)
- Territory bonus only counts towards Monsters

Basic strategy
In short, you should get to the nearest Powerstone as soon as you can. Deploy on your wizard and take the corresponding Runebound Monster for the +2 bonus. The handful of Monsters you get across the map are close to worthless and aren't used 90% of the time. When the dice allow you, go for the nearest Powerstone. Make sure you can hold it and start assaulting your enemies from your Powerstone. You can choose to bombard (Lightning Bolt) their Powerstones to make sure they can't do the same to you or you can assault (Mind Blast) their Runebound Monsters and take over what they have. You need to outnumber your enemy, so if the dice are against you, be patient and wait until you have a bigger stack of troops.

Once you've broken your enemy's defense, it's important to keep breaking it every turn, so the enemy is unable to build up a force of its own. This will cost you troops, but contains the game in your favour, until you are strong enough to take over completely.

Settings
Fog of War
Fog of War defines the gameplay a lot. I'd recommend using Fog of War, so you always have the element of surprise. Without fog, a game between two players knowing the basic strategy will be decided by dice. With fog, basic strategy is necesarry, but an upset is always possible. Monsters is quite similar to other maps with starting positions in this respect; most people play Fog of War on Feudal War, Age of Realms and the likes.

1 v 1
You start with 4 wizards and a handful of random Monsters in the corners of the map. It is wise to get a Runebound Monster as soon as possible for the bonus of 2 troops.
From this point on there are different strategies possible, the two most common strategies are:
* Get every corresponding Runebound Monster with the wizards for the +2 bonus and go for the Powerstone with a decent stack to assault the enemy.
* Get the nearest Powerstone and take Mind Blast or Lightning Bolt to assault your enemy in an early phase, making it impossible to develop bonus troops.
Experts that have played this map lots of time, use the following strategy every single time: Get to a Powerstone as soon as possible and assault Mind Blast to get the Runebound Monsters of the enemy. This will not only lower their bonus, but you can advance all troops, so you might also be able to assault further.

Doubles, triples, quadruples
In the case of a teamgame you have the same two strategies you can use in a 1v1, so that's up to you to decide. But this being a guide and all, I'll give you this advice: When analyzing games on this map, it has become apparent that in a teamgame, it's usually much more beneficial to deploy on one of the players and let him/her take the Runebound Monster and Powerstone as soon as possible, so (s)he can assault the enemy and prevent them from getting stronger. Keep assaulting the opposing team every turn to make sure they are unable to build up a bonus and an army. Like 1v1, you assault Mind Blast to assault your enemy from there.

No Spoils
When executing a perfect strategy, no spoils seems the way to go. I'm afraid it has to be mentioned though, that Monsters can be decided by the dice in the first two turns, especially when playing without spoils. No spoils gives you an equal fight and is definitely a good setting if your enemy doesn't know the basic strategy of the map.

Flat Rate
Spoils are interesting, because this map offers you easy-to-get bonuses that are hard to keep. When playing Flat Rate, it might secure your bonus, but it can also give you the opportunity to attack across the field with Lightning Bolt or Mind Blast. Flat Rate will make a Monsters game very dynamic, much more so than on a geographic map.

Escalating
Analyzing games on the Monsters map, it has become clear that when playing escalating 1v1 or team, the cards don't really matter. The sets will rise to 50, because of all the neutrals, but the team that was ahead in round 3, will win the game, if they play it out properly.
Escalating spoils in a standard game is completely different. I dare not write a guide for that, because of all the Monsters in the corner of the map, that make it very hard to sweep the field. It's best not to assault from the Monsters in the corners when playing fog, because you reveal your position. In an escalating game this is very valuable information that you shouldn't give away for free. An 8 player, standard, escalating, fog of war game on Monsters will definitely be a hell of a ride.

Nuclear, Zombie Spoils
The map is too big for these spoils to matter, so the No Spoils strategy applies.

Reinforcements
- Chained: The usual setting. Most of the time, you don't need to reinforce more than one stack, so Chained will suffice.
- Adjacent: Tricky, because of all the one-way assaults. Will definitely slow things down in a standard game, which could be used as an advantage. Choose this setting carefully.
- Unlimited: Most of the time you don't need to reinforce various stacks of troops, so this setting has no added value to this map.
- Parachute: Could be used to reinforce troops from Lightning Bolt, to avoid the -2 troop decay per turn. Parachute allows you to reinforce from the Monsters in the corner and those troops would've been useless otherwise.
- None: A great setting for Monsters. The one-way assaults make the amount of troops you advance to the assaulted territory far more important than the troops you reinforce.

Trench
Start attacking the Runebound Monster and the path to the Powerstone right away with the Trench setting. This is the basic strategy as well, but in Trench, there is no room for improvisation. You need the bonuses and every turn you don't collect them, your enemy will.
Mind Blast and Shield are a killer neutral, so those territories can assault once more after being assaulted, keep that in mind.
Lightning Bolt is a very useful spell to use in Trench, because it can bombard the enemy's Powerstone. Without Powerstones, the enemy can't do any severe damage to you and because of the Trench setting, bombarding the Powerstones will keep you safe.

Assassin
It'll be a lottery, because of the hidden Monsters in the corner of the map (assuming you play with Fog of War).

Tips for free
- Use Fog of War, it makes this map a lot more fun and less dice-decided.
- In a teamgame, don't be selfish. The team-effort comes first, even if that means deploying on your teammates the entire game.
- Check the legend several times, if you are unsure about the moves every territory has.

Very nice sir!

It looks good from a dimwit's point of view, maybe someone who is much better at the map than me would have some pointers on the strategy you've laid out.

There's one thing I'd like to see added, 'Recommended settings'. It's helpful for those who are clueless so they don't end up picking settings that are off-putting.

Thanks!

If someone has an adjustment in mind, I'd be happy hear it, because this is quite a personal guide. I have very good experiences with the described tactics, but there's always room for adjustment.

I will have more comments later I think but first small ones :
Lightning bolt has -2 decay troops.

When you say powerstone are connecting to mind blast and lightinhlg bolt, add to their corresponding mind blast and lightning bolt. It is obvious ofc but since you said it for wizard/monster you should also say it for powestones/spell.

The decay of Lightning Bolt is obviously correct, don't know why it said -1. I edited both things you mentioned, thanks.

JBlombier wrote:- In a teamgame, don't be selfish. The team-effort comes first, even if that means deploying on your teammates the entire game.

In a team game you must stack one player if you wish to win .

Assassin
It'll be a lottery, because of the hidden Monsters in the corner of the map (assuming you play with Fog of War). I wouldn't recommend this.

I do no think we should be saying that. According to me most assassin game are a lottery anyway, it is part of the setting. This game can be play like that as well as many other map.

* Get every corresponding Runebound Monster with the wizards for the +2 bonus and go for the Powerstone with a decent stack to assault the enemy.
* Get the nearest Powerstone and take Mind Blast or Lightning Bolt to assault your enemy in an early phase, making it impossible to develop bonus troops.

I think it is always a mistake to take more than one runebound monster. Team or 1vs1 you should rush for powerstone, it is the best strategy.
Also I never go for Lighting bolt in non trench game. Wouldn't say it is 100% a mistake to take it but I really feel mind blast is better.


Team part, as loutil said, stacking one player is a must.

Escalating spoils in a standard game is completely different. I dare not write a guide for that, because of all the Monsters in the corner of the map, that make it very hard to sweep the field. An 8 player, standard, escalating, fog of war game on Monsters will definitely be a hell of a ride.

100% correct.

One could add, when playing fog escalating, do not attack from you brown monster on the side, and do not take enemy regions on brown monster it would make them easy target. If you see other players doing it, they will give easy targets for you.
If no one is taking lot of regions ( = brown monster) then you will have to wait very long to go for a kill because of all the hidden regions behind neutrals and also all the split that will be necessary to make a kill.
Be careful it is very easy to fail to eliminate someone on this map in fog games.

- Parachute: Could be used to replace Chained, because it has the similarity of one reinforcement per turn.

Bit different to chained. It allows you to fort out all your stuck troops on brown monsters behind neutrals in the first turns.
It allows you to fort out troops from lighting bolt where they would usually simply be lost from the decay at beginning of your next turn, making lighting bolt much more interesting that in non parachute game.

Trench
Start attacking the Runebound Monster and the path to the Powerstone right away with the Trench setting. This is the basic strategy as well, but in Trench, there is no room for improvisation. You need the bonuses and every turn you don't collect them, your enemy will.
Mind Blast and Shield are a killer neutral, so those territories can assault once more after being assaulted, keep that in mind.
Lightning Bolt is a very useful spell to use in Trench, because it can bombard the enemy's Powerstone. Without Powerstones, the enemy can't do any severe damage to you and because of the Trench setting, bombarding the Powerstones will keep you safe.

Correct. But to be precise, in trench, 1vs1 or 2 teams, you must take the lightning bolt and once you have it always bombard the opponent powerstone. If both players/teams advanced to their powerstone at the same pace, as it should be, then you will both be able to bombard each other powerstone, and game can be quite long. In this case do not forget to consider attacking runebound monster of your opponent through the brown monster on the side.
If your opponent did not have time to take his lightning bold while you did, it will be a victory for you because you will be able to collect the +3 from holding your powerstone, and you will be able to use the mind blast to break their bonus, taking their runebound monster in 1 turn, while they never will have this opportunity as long as you keep bombarding their powerstone. Therefore remember, in trench, lightning bolt is the most important territory.




Also, in the basic strategy, you should say that it is possible to make an attack from brown monster taking a 3 neutral then directly opponent runebound monster. You should do it only once you know which runebound monster your opponent took because, in 1vs1, he will usually take only 1 runebound monster among the 4 possible.
This is rarely the best way to attack, most people prefer taking mind blast from powerstone, but can be efficient and useful in some situations.

Donelladan wrote:

Assassin
It'll be a lottery, because of the hidden Monsters in the corner of the map (assuming you play with Fog of War). I wouldn't recommend this.

I do no think we should be saying that. According to me most assassin game are a lottery anyway, it is part of the setting. This game can be play like that as well as many other map.

Fair enough. I don't like assassin, perhaps I got a little carried away in my own opinion. I'll change this.

Donelladan wrote:

* Get every corresponding Runebound Monster with the wizards for the +2 bonus and go for the Powerstone with a decent stack to assault the enemy.
* Get the nearest Powerstone and take Mind Blast or Lightning Bolt to assault your enemy in an early phase, making it impossible to develop bonus troops.

I think it is always a mistake to take more than one runebound monster. Team or 1vs1 you should rush for powerstone, it is the best strategy.
Also I never go for Lighting bolt in non trench game. Wouldn't say it is 100% a mistake to take it but I really feel mind blast is better.

Team part, as loutil said, stacking one player is a must.

I absolutely agree with you. I always use the strategy you mention. However, when I started writing these guides, I interpret the rules in a way that I should write down all available strategies, which is what I did. I'll add a personal note to the guide that rushing the Powerstone and go for Mind Blast is the preferred method, but I'll leave the rest. Perhaps I interpreted the way to write a guide wrong, maybe James can help us out on that matter.

Escalating spoils in a standard game is completely different. I dare not write a guide for that, because of all the Monsters in the corner of the map, that make it very hard to sweep the field. An 8 player, standard, escalating, fog of war game on Monsters will definitely be a hell of a ride.

100% correct.

One could add, when playing fog escalating, do not attack from you brown monster on the side, and do not take enemy regions on brown monster it would make them easy target. If you see other players doing it, they will give easy targets for you.
If no one is taking lot of regions ( = brown monster) then you will have to wait very long to go for a kill because of all the hidden regions behind neutrals and also all the split that will be necessary to make a kill.
Be careful it is very easy to fail to eliminate someone on this map in fog games.

This takes the strategy a little deeper indeed and is a good tip, I'll add it.

- Parachute: Could be used to replace Chained, because it has the similarity of one reinforcement per turn.

Bit different to chained. It allows you to fort out all your stuck troops on brown monsters behind neutrals in the first turns.
It allows you to fort out troops from lighting bolt where they would usually simply be lost from the decay at beginning of your next turn, making lighting bolt much more interesting that in non parachute game.

Absolutely. I must admit I got a bit lazy at this point, so I wrote this part a little too fast. Obviously, you're right.

Trench
Start attacking the Runebound Monster and the path to the Powerstone right away with the Trench setting. This is the basic strategy as well, but in Trench, there is no room for improvisation. You need the bonuses and every turn you don't collect them, your enemy will.
Mind Blast and Shield are a killer neutral, so those territories can assault once more after being assaulted, keep that in mind.
Lightning Bolt is a very useful spell to use in Trench, because it can bombard the enemy's Powerstone. Without Powerstones, the enemy can't do any severe damage to you and because of the Trench setting, bombarding the Powerstones will keep you safe.

Correct. But to be precise, in trench, 1vs1 or 2 teams, you must take the lightning bolt and once you have it always bombard the opponent powerstone. If both players/teams advanced to their powerstone at the same pace, as it should be, then you will both be able to bombard each other powerstone, and game can be quite long. In this case do not forget to consider attacking runebound monster of your opponent through the brown monster on the side.
If your opponent did not have time to take his lightning bold while you did, it will be a victory for you because you will be able to collect the +3 from holding your powerstone, and you will be able to use the mind blast to break their bonus, taking their runebound monster in 1 turn, while they never will have this opportunity as long as you keep bombarding their powerstone. Therefore remember, in trench, lightning bolt is the most important territory.

Hmm, yeah. I kinda wrote that, I think. I could be more precise, I guess.

Also, in the basic strategy, you should say that it is possible to make an attack from brown monster taking a 3 neutral then directly opponent runebound monster. You should do it only once you know which runebound monster your opponent took because, in 1vs1, he will usually take only 1 runebound monster among the 4 possible.
This is rarely the best way to attack, most people prefer taking mind blast from powerstone, but can be efficient and useful in some situations.

Interesting. As you say yourself, this is rarely the best way to attack. I feel I'm misleading people if I suggest to do this, because it's usually not the best thing to do. It takes a lot of insight in this map to determine whether attacking a brown monster from the corner is worth it. I know when it is, but I really don't know how to explain that in this guide. It depends on so many circumstances, that I think the safer option is to discourage people to try this out, because that's usually the best option.

Thanks a lot for your comments, mate. They were very helpful!

- JBlombier

I absolutely agree with you. I always use the strategy you mention. However, when I started writing these guides, I interpret the rules in a way that I should write down all available strategies, which is what I did. I'll add a personal note to the guide that rushing the Powerstone and go for Mind Blast is the preferred method, but I'll leave the rest. Perhaps I interpreted the way to write a guide wrong, maybe James can help us out on that matter.

Yes I was wondering the same as I was typing my message. Should we speak about everything possible, or should we tell people what to do ?
On one way I feel it is better the way you did, because you really explain well all possibilities, on the other hand every monster expert play it the same way. But telling people " do that and that's it" is not really a good way to give strategy tip.
I am confused too of how you/we should work here. Guess at the end it might be the decision of the one writing the guide.

Yeah, I think it'll come down to the one writing the guide indeed. Which is why it's good to keep each other sharp, like you did here. I think the best possible solution is to explain the various ways to play the map, but add a little note that experts choose a certain strategy. This is pretty close to telling people what to do, but at least it gives the reader a choice.

Published. Moved to GD. Added to the list of official strategy guides

Donelladan wrote:Published. Moved to GD. Added to the list of official strategy guides

hope it's better than most of the others...

A Mod wrote:Mod Note: This guide is considered out-of-date. It will need revisions as the map has been transformed since the guide was written.

the black jesus has openly mocked the "strategy" guides...-Jésus noir

EXACTLY!!!

If you go to the strategy list guide, you'll see at the bottom there is a list of the recent strategy guides, those aren't out of date.
May I ask which guide you are referring to ?

Donelladan wrote:If you go to the strategy list guide, you'll see at the bottom there is a list of the recent strategy guides, those aren't out of date.
May I ask which guide you are referring to ?

ohhhh, you caught me in a lie!!!
Subject: Far East

Gilligan wrote:Far East
Guide by Gilligan

Mod Note: This guide is considered out-of-date. It will need revisions as the map has been transformed since the guide was written.

go through them. there are a slew that are incomplete, have incorrect information, have not been updated, etc, etc, etc... i discovered this when i encountered a random map and thought, "hey, i'll try out the strategy guide!!" yeah... sounds great in theory, but it fell far short in practice. go through them, you will see exactly what i mean. the black jesus has spoken...-Jésus noir

Are you putting your hand up to help out owen? or just slagging off again at something because you can find imperfections?

Razorvich wrote:Are you putting your hand up to help out owen? or just slagging off again at something because you can find imperfections?

this is a point that several users have pointed out!!! but hey, lay it at my feet!!! blame the 1,200th messenger!!!-Jn

Well, we are well aware that some guides are outdated. Most of the old guides are on the to-do list of the project. But we dramatically lack people willing to give some of their time to make new guides.

I think the recently published guides are nicely done and full of valid and useful information, such as this one, even if there are only a few of them.

Btw, anyone interested in making strategy guide, or update all strategy guide, feel free to contact me. There is credits awarded for anyone that finish a guilde ( plus an eternal respect from the community to those who give their time to help ).

Maybe if you had a public thread detailing what maps guides are done, are in the works, need updating, and free for the taking it might be easier. If someone only knows 2-3 maps and doesn't know what the situation with that guide is they might not bother volunteering.

if u guys ask Bogan nicely, he could maybe be persuaded to chase owen outta here like he did for the rest of the forums. just a thought...

Yea! and I can chase llamo out. Sounds like a plan.

beat it, scrub.

Take a hike (if your blackened lungs can take it), BukowskY-lasagna.

owenshooter wrote:hope it's better than most of the others...

So, what do you think?
As mentioned before, all valid input will result in an update of the guide. PM/Wall is bound to increase to speed of the update, of course.

- JBlombier