Reserves

Reserves

What Are Reserves?

Reserves represent reserve troops that can be "called up" to the front when a player has accumulated a set of three. A single Reserve is awarded to a player at the end of every turn in which that player has taken a region. When a player calls up reserves, they will have extra troops to deploy. Reserves are listed graphically in the Intel tab. Reserves for regions that you own have bold names.

Calling Up Reserves

At the Beginning of a Turn:

If a player has a set of three Reserves, they may "call up" the Reserves to get extra troops for deployment. If a player has five Reserves, they MUST call them up:

After Eliminating Another Player

The Reserves of a defeated player are immediately awarded to the player who knocked them out of the game. If this leaves the attacking player with four or fewer Reserves, then they continue with their turn as normal. However, if the player has five or more, they MUST call up Reserves and deploy the extra troops before continuing with their turn. If, after calling up a set of Reserves, the player still has five or more, they must call up another set.

Types of Reserves

Shades: Reserves come in three shades: red, tan, and white. A set of three Reserves can be called up when a player possesses one of each shade or three of one shade. Regardless of game setting, Reserve shade has no impact on the troop value. Affiliation: Each reserve is affiliated with a particular region on the map. If a player happen to control that region, and they use that Reserve as part of a set, a bonus of two troops will be automatically added to that region. Troop Value: There are four different settings for Reserves, established when the game is created. Escalating, Escalite, and Flat Rate assign different values to a given set of Reserves, and No Reserves eliminates them from the game completely.

Escalating Reserves

Value: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30,... Description: The first set of Reserves called up by any player is worth 4 extra troops, the second set is worth 6, and so on. Basic strategy: It's usually better to try and wait and call up reserves after your opponents do, so they are worth more. Strategy should be structured around trying to eliminate opponents and take their Reserves. When eliminating opponents, especially in large singles games, it's best to aim for defeating opponents with enough reserves to give you 5+ after eliminating them, thus allowing you to call them up mid-turn and deploy more troops.

Escalite Reserves

Value: 4,5,6,7,8,... Description: The first set of Reserves called up by any player is worth 4 extra troops, the second set is worth 5, and so on. Basic strategy: Since Escalite Reserves grow at a much slower rate than Escalating, there will be less of an emphasis on eliminating opponents for reserves, though that will still be a useful strategy as long as you don't weaken yourself so much in the attempt that you're easy pickings for another opponent.

Flat Rate Reserves

Value: 6 Description: Every set of Reserves called up, regardless of how many have been called up already, is worth 6 troops. Basic strategy: You'll want to focus more on taking and holding commands rather than eliminating opponents. Be sure to keep an eye on the Intel tab to make sure that no one opponent takes an insurmountable lead.

No Reserves

Description: No Reserves are awarded. Basic strategy: Much like Flat Rate, with No Reserves you'll want to emphasize holding commands. Since there's much less incentive to eliminate other players, it's possible to hang around in a game with only a few regions. No Reserves games tend to be long ones, even in Head-to-Head games, so plan accordingly.