The Ultimate Forge of Empires Army – The Battle Edition

In the quest to forge our empire, we must fight! Forge of Empires Battles are an intrinsic feature of the game, and our military strategy and army are imperative to our success.

We are presented with a choice; to use our units to attack other players, or to conquer provinces on the Continent Map.

Before we can enter battle, we first need to establish our units which are placed into slots in our Military Buildings.

It is through Army Management that we can manage our units; specifically, our Attacking Army and Defending Army.

Forge of Empires Tips has thus created this Forge of Empires Army Guide; to help you to not only be fully ready for battle but to win as many battles as possible!

Forge of Empires Army Battle Strategies; Battle Preparation:

Artillery Units

Artillery units are incredibly powerful when used in numbers but should only be deployed after we consider the enemy troops in which we face.

For example, if the enemy is to set up with 1-3 heavy units, we can effectively use 3-4 artillery units (of the previous or same age) to defeat this enemy set up.

As artillery units are effective at defeating heavy units, this sets us up nicely for victory as it becomes extremely easy for the rest of our other troops to win the battle.

We also recommended that 2-3 Artillery units are deployed when facing an army that consists of 0-1 heavy units and 1-4 total artillery, ranged, or fast units.

It is important to note that if most of the units are light units, Artillery units should not be used.

Army Management

It is through Army Management that we manage our units and assign them to both our attacking army and our defending army.

In each of our armies, we can deploy up eight units to fight. For optimum strength, we should always try to put as many troops as possible into our armies.

As the name suggests, our Attacking and Defending Armies have different uses: the units in our defending army defend your city, whilst our attacking army is used to attack our enemies.

In regards to defense, fellow players have to defeat all of our defending army when they attack us to end victorious.

But fear not: even if your opponent is to prove victorious, all of our defensive army will be automatically healed and revived to full strength following any battle.

To assign units to defend our city, we must click the blue button on the left of our screen and then click on the units we require.

It is here we can select defending units from both the current attacking army and from the available units.

If we have unbound units we recommend to use them for defense, or otherwise we risk losing them if they are deployed for attack.

If we want to attack another player or an enemy on the Continent map, well use the units in our attacking army.

Alternatively, these are not protected and can therefore be destroyed or damaged and will need replacing; so attack wisely!

Unit Types

Throughout the Forge of Empires Ages, there are five different military buildings. Each will produce different units specific to that era.

What’s more, the units differ in their type: There are fast units, light and heavy units, and units with ranged or artillery units attacks.

Each unit will have different strengths and weaknesses:

Fast units have a good range of movement, but they unable to take much damage. These are great when used to take out ranged classes.

Light units are more of an all-rounder: they are fast, inflict considerable damage and can withstand a lot from the enemy. Light units are best when they are used to intercept enemy fast units.

Heavy units are quite slow because they are heavily armoured. This means that they are formidable opponents and take a lot of damage to be defeated. When they make it into close combat they will outmatch any other unit.

Ranged units are fast and a major benefit is that they attack from a distance. Better yet their attack causes significant damage. A major downside is that they cannot defend themselves and are easily picked off by any of the enemy units which manage to attack the. This is particularly true in close combat.

Artillery units are lost in close-range combat. There are quite a few downsides to them; they are incredibly slow, have a very weak defense, and have only a modest attacking threat. Their main advantage is their range; they can cover almost the entire battle map and are able to selectively attack almost every unit. When used in numbers, they are able to take out enemy artillery units without receiving any damage.

Forge of Empires Army Battle Strategies; During the Battle:

Movement and Attack

Forge of Empires Battles are fought in rounds.

In essence, each unit moves and attacks once per round. They will move according to their movement points, but each type of terrain will cost a differing amount.

Following movement, if there is an opponent within their reach, the units are able to attack. Melee classes and fast units have to attack into an adjacent field, while ranged classes are able to shoot at an enemy within their range.

Thankfully, we do not have to fear retaliation from ranged attacks and during close-ranged battle, fast units and melee units are able to defend themselves.

The battle process works as follows: first, the attacker will incur damage, then the one receiving damage will be offered a turn to attack back.

It is important to note that in each round, there is only one counter-attack available.

Like so, even the strongest unit(s) can be defeated by a swarm of enemies this way.

Health and Damage

Each unit has a certain level of health; a maximum of ten life points.

The amount of damage points an attack deals is calculated through a range of factors: the current life points, the attack value of the attacker, the defense value of the attacked, modifiers for terrain, other bonuses (some units get bonuses if they fight against units of a particular type) and a random factor.

Thus, a unit with a high attack rating is able to deal more damage, and an uninjured unit can inflict more than a wounded one.

It also follows that high defense means good armour – the unit will receive less damage.

It goes without saying that if a unit loses all its life points, it is destroyed.

The Terrain

On the Forge of Empires battle map, there are different types of terrain. Forests, bushes, rocks, hills, water bodies, plains and swamps are some example of these different terrains.

The Terrain offers two different effects in the game: Firstly, it affects movement. Water areas are impassable, and other types of terrain costs extra movement points when they are crossed.

On a more positive note, the terrain can give us battle bonuses: light units receive defense bonuses in bushes and forests, heavy units are better protected in plains, artillery units receive an attack bonus when they shoot from hills, whereas those with ranged units deal more damage standing on rocks.

Only fast units do not receive benefits through the terrain. Rough terrain benefits ranged units that can be strategically placed behind it, as opposed to melee classes who have a movement range that is significantly smaller.

Ranged Units can therefore be used with Rough Terrain to hit the enemy without the enemy being able to attack our ranged units the following turn.

Stat Increases

The stats of units can be further influenced by a percentile boost. On some provinces of the Continent map, all enemy units will gain a percentage bonus to their attack and defense stats.

This can be seen when being experienced in the sector view as a small shield icon will appear on top of the unit image.

There are two different buffs that have the ability to affect our armies; both of which are obtained from certain buildings. This includes the Watchfire and a select number of Great Buildings:

Defense boost: All units in the defending army will get a bonus to their defense stat only, which essentially means that they take less damage when attacked.

Military boost: All units in the attacking army of this player get a bonus to both their attack AND their defense stats, which means they take less damage and are able to deal more.

Special Skills

There are a select few units in the game that provide us with a further layer of tactical options. These are known as special skills. At present, the following skills are available in Forge of Empires:

Blast: This skill is only found on 3 units that have ranged attacks, i.e. Howitzer, Microwave Blaster and Exoskeleton Soldier. A unit with blast will deal more damage for every field it is closer to its target.

Stealth in (terrain): A unit with this skill can only be attacked from adjacent fields, as long as it stays in its specified terrain. For example, Jaeger Infantry, Ranger, Paratrooper, Commando, Strike Team, Stealth Tank, Hover Tank and Surrogate Soldier.

Secret Identity: A unit with this skill will forgo the first attack it usually takes. Instead, it will undertake an attack from an undamaged unit of your army that does not have a secret identity. If no such unit is left in your army, the attacked unit gets removed from battle instead. Win win.

Chivalry: The skill is used when we reach the High Middle Ages through Knights and the Late Middle Ages through Heavy Knights (with Chivalry values of 3 and 5 respectively). This skill increases both the attack and defense points when only chivalry units are in the army.

Call of Duty: This special skill grants us an attack and defense bonus to all of our units when this unit is killed. (Note: This skill can only be applied once.)

Dug in: Units with this skill will gain a defense bonus if the attacker is a certain amount of fields away. The distance will vary depending upon the unit.

Rapid deployment: Units with this skill will start the battle in a random location, towards the centre of the map, and gain the advantage by attacking first before any other unit. Examples of units with this skill: Paratrooper, Strike Team, Ultra AP and Drone Swarm.

Close Quarters: Units with this skill will gain an attack bonus when attacking within an adjacent field. Example: Conscript, Commando, Exoskeleton Soldier and Surrogate Soldier.

Flying: Units with this skill cannot be attacked by artillery units and will ignore the terrain when moving. Example: Attack Helicopter, Combat Drone, Drone Swarm and Dragon Drone.

Reactive Armour: This skill is found in only 3 units, but will mean that the unit cannot take more than a damage of 4 per enemy attack. Example: Assault Tank, Hover Tank and Battle Fortress.

MIRV: This is found in only 1 unit, but it enables us to hit additional targeted units (between one and 3 additional units in range) and enables us to target a maximum of 4 enemy units from one attack within range. Example: Missile Artillery.

One-Shot: Also only found in 1 unit but it enables the unit to be removed from battle after attacking and dies when battle is lost. Example: Missile Artillery.

Contact: Units with this skill will always retaliate when attached by an enemy in range. This even includes when enemy units are hidden. Example: MG Team, Anti-Aircraft Vehicle and Ultra AP.

Heat: This is found in only 2 units but enables the enemies attack to be reduced by 20%. It also colours them red so we can see when it is being applied. Example: Microwave Blaster and Satellite Spotter.

Morale: A unit with this skill ensures all of our friendly units start a battle with 1 point of armour. This gives us an extra 1 hit point for all friendly units, for a total of 11 hit points. Example: Military Drummer.

Recharge: A unit with this skill attacks every two turns. Example: Rail Gun.

Power Shot: A unit with this skill ignores the defensive skills and terrain, including ignoring Flying ability, Stealth, Dug-in, Chivalry, Call of Duty, Last Stand ignoring all enemy defense bonus from terrain, but does not ignore other skills, all enemy attack bonuses from terrain and enemy unit bonuses. Example: Rail Gun.

Rally: A unit with this skill gives all our friendly units an attack and defense bonus at the beginning of a battle. Example: Colour Guard and Military Drummer.

Dragon Breath: A unit with this skill that attacks a row of enemies, from up to two tiles away, will not receive retaliation. Example: Dragon Drone.

Battle Healing

When the battle is over and our defensive units have been damaged, they will heal automatically over time – in phases of one life point at each interval.

On the other hand, attacking units that were destroyed in battle will not heal. Their corresponding slot in the military building will be free once more and we are able to recruit new units from there.

We are also presented with the opportunity to resurrect a fallen unit right after a battle, however, this will require Diamonds.

In certain cases, this can be worthwhile, especially if we’ve lost “unattached” units that were not from slots in military buildings but obtained through quests or events – a unit that we will can’t replace otherwise.

The shortest healing times are found for Bronze Age units, with the time to heal one hit point increasing in the Iron Age before reaching the maximum 24 minutes per hit point in the Early Middle Ages.

So there you have it, our Forge of Empires Army guide to help get you on your way. If you are about to enter a Forge of Empires Battle, try these tips out and let us know how you get on.

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6 thoughts on “The Ultimate Forge of Empires Army – The Battle Edition”

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  3. Hi, great comments, thanks. I am currently in EMA and when I attack infantry on the Continent Map the enemy side steps my attack (and hence no damage to them) and then comes back and attacks me – how do I counter this?

  4. There is no option in army management to set defending army (blue shield )on a android phones or tablet ,many of ur users go this route for playing not everyone uses a PC nor laptop ,so how do we set that option or do we just keep getting plunder ???

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