Advanced Attacking – Flanks, Waves and the Courtyard
I've put off writing this article for a long time, because you could write about attacking forever and still run into a player who does it completely differently and makes it work. But after years of playing Empire, I've got a pretty clear picture of what separates a player who just "sends" an attack from one who knows how to build it. It's not troop count. At higher levels it stops being about Might - it's about reading the defense, picking a flank, splitting your force into waves, and whether you take care of the second phase in the courtyard. If you're still throwing one big attack at a random wing and wondering why it's chewing through units even against a weaker castle, keep reading - I used to do that too.
First Take a Look at What's Behind the Walls
I'll start with this one, because it's the step most people skip. A blind attack is a luxury an experienced player simply can't afford. Before you march out, you want to know what's waiting for you: how much defense is sitting on each flank and in the center, whether the defender is leaning on frontline units or flanking units there, what defensive tools are hanging on the walls, and what bonuses their commander and alliance are holding.
That's why, before a real attack, it pays off to send in a spy or a small probing strike that shows you how the defense is spread across the fronts. You lose a handful of units, but you're buying information that can save your whole army. Above all, look for asymmetry - almost nobody spreads their defense evenly, one flank is always thinner, and that's exactly the one you're looking for.
And one thing I learned the hard way myself: defense isn't static. During Alliance Wars, reinforcements fly back and forth, so a spy report that's a few hours old might not hold up anymore. Check again right before you attack. I once skipped that, relied on a morning report, and in the afternoon I found a completely different setup waiting for me. Ever since, I always scout twice.
Three Fronts, Two Flanks and a Center with the Gate
Every target has its defense split across three fronts: the left flank, the right flank, and the center with the gate. That's not just visual, it's the core of the whole mechanic. The defender spreads both their units and their defensive bonuses across these three fronts, and your commander only ever rides on one of them at a time. Troops attacking the left flank don't help the ones on the center at all, and vice versa.
Which brings us to the first thing you need to burn into your head: don't spread your strength thin. If you don't have a clear plan, put everything on one flank instead of splitting it in little pieces across all three. An attack is decided at the level of a single front, not the castle as a whole. The defender has a limited number of units and slots, so your job is to find the front where it's thinnest and go all in there.
Picking the Weaker Flank and What's Sitting There
Once you have the layout, you pick a front. The weaker flank isn't just the one with fewer units, it's the one where your attack matches up best against the defense. This is where it matters whether the defender packed it with frontline units or flanking units. Bonuses against a specific defense come mainly from your commander and your siege tools, not from some fixed rock-paper-scissors matchup between unit types. So build your commander and equipment around what's actually waiting for you on that front.
The center with the gate is a bit of a different story. The gate is usually the most heavily reinforced spot, and it's the classic route into the courtyard. Attacking the center demands more, so it's worth aiming for it deliberately, not just out of habit. Personally, I spent a long time going for the gate "because that's how it's done," and it cost me way more than it should have. Often it's smarter to break the weaker flank and open up space that way than to stubbornly force your way into the toughest spot.
And pick your commander based on what bonuses they bring to that specific front and defense, not on who happens to be rested. I know it's tempting, but don't do it.
Wear Them Down with Waves, Then Break Through
Waves are the heart of advanced attacking. Instead of one strike, you split your force into several waves, one after another. There are two reasons for this. First, the defender has limited defensive capacity, and the defensive tools on the walls wear down and get used up in combat. The first waves are meant to wear the defense down, not necessarily break through. Second, waves let you build each one differently: you set up the opening wave to take out defensive tools and the most dangerous defenders, while later waves finish off an already-weakened front.
A practical lesson that's served me well: don't build every wave the same way. Put cheaper or expendable units in the opening waves that just clear the path. Save your main strike for a wave that lands on defense that's already been softened up. And keep a reserve - an attack that runs out of steam right before breaking through is worthless, you've just burned units for nothing. Waves hitting the same flank stack their pressure, so concentration in both time and space is what breaks the defense.
Rams, Ladders and Mantlets on the Right Front
Siege tools are what separates a player who understands the mechanic from one who's just sending meat. Tools used against the walls (mantlets, siege towers, ladders) knock down the defensive bonus the walls give the defender, and the ram opens the gate into the courtyard. Without them you're attacking the fortifications at full strength and paying for it in losses.
The key is pairing them correctly. Put your wall-breaking tools on the flank you're actually breaking, so they knock down the bonus exactly where you're pushing units. The ram only makes sense when you have a real plan to push through to the courtyard and actually get something out of the target. Just like units, tools wear down and get used up, so deploy them deliberately in the waves where they matter, not spread thin across every one.
And plan ahead for them. Siege equipment has to be produced and restocked, so before a big attack or an alliance campaign, stock up. Nothing's worse than finding out in the middle of a campaign that you've got nothing left to break the walls with - and trust me, I've been there.
The Courtyard Is a Second Battle
Breaking through a front still isn't a win. Once you get past the gate or through a broken flank, a second phase is waiting for you in the courtyard, where the defender has another, often final and concentrated, line. Yes, you most often reach the courtyard through the gate, but breaking a wing can get you there too. A lot of attacks fall apart right in the courtyard, because the attacker dumps everything into the walls and doesn't have enough strength left to finish inside.
That's why you should plan the courtyard as a separate battle. Deliberately hold back part of your striking force for whatever's waiting behind the walls, don't spend absolutely everything on the outer front. Keep commander bonuses and units suited to the courtyard in mind already while you're building your waves.
And be honest with yourself. If your calculations show you'll break the walls but won't have anything left to finish the job in the courtyard, that's a half-attack that costs you an army with no reward. Better to wait, reinforce, and strike properly all the way through once than to reach the gate twice and come back empty-handed. Know that feeling? When the report shows broken walls and then zero from the courtyard? That's exactly what I'm trying to help you avoid.
A Question I Get a Lot
"Honza, what's the ideal number of waves?" Honestly, I don't have a clear-cut answer to that, and I'm not 100% sure a universal number even exists. It depends on what the spy report shows, how many tools you've got in stock, and how many opening units you can afford to sacrifice. I think it's better to think about waves from the other direction: the first one needs to take out the tools and the most dangerous defenders, the last one needs to land on defense that's already soft and still have enough strength left for the courtyard. How many go in between, you'll fine-tune that from your reports. What's worked for me is going through the report after every bigger attack and checking which wave actually did the work and which one was wasted. Give it a few weeks and you'll start to feel it.
Back to Pokrocile.