Metal Knights Strategy Guide v1.0 courtesy of download-free-games.com First of all, you should read the entire help file to understand how the basics of the game works. This guide is not concerned with the basics, but to make you an effective warrior against other players on the Internet. I. Base Establishment Choose a base site that is near valuable resources and cities. The best resource is the gold mine ($3/ton), next the wood mill or oil field ($2/ton), and last the ore mine ($1/ton). The best setup is several resources right next to a city. You can collect a ton of resources with your truck and then send it back to the city for a great amount of income all on one turn! Look for several gold mines or wood/oil right next to a city. When playing against other players, make sure you don't make yourself an easy target from several enemies at once. The middle of the map may not be a good place to put your base unless you are very confident of your skills. In a corner or on the edge of a map provides good natural defense on at least one side. Your base should be near roads with cities lying near so you can expand and capture cities quickly. This is key for using a transport/infantry combo or a panther for expansion. You will be able to travel 2-3X as quickly on roads than offroad. Sometimes you can capture as many as 3 cities in a turn with one unit if cities are lying right next to roads. If you find a good base location near resources but not near roads, use bulldozers to build roads to existing roads or between frequently traveled resources. It will pay off greatly in the end. Base locations near rivers that have wrecks is good if you plan to purchase a shark unit to explore wrecks. However, do not place your base right next to the river or you are a sitting duck for enemy naval units and possible base capture from cargo landings unless you feel you can defend your base well. II. Opening Moves Purchase a transport and load into it a bulldozer, truck, and infantry unit. You can then establish a resource(s) with the bulldozer, mine them with the truck, and establish a nearby city with the infantry unit. This will help you get your resource economy going very quickly at the beginning of the game. Head to resources that are grouped right next to cities first, at least two, preferabbly three right near a city. You will then be able to harvest these resources with a truck and transport combo. The transport will give your truck much great range and ability to harvest 2-3 resources per turn and return them to a city to cash in. Buying a ground university will give you the ability to make the Panther unit. These motorcycle troops are good at traveling quickly and capturing cities. They are also better at attack and defense than infantry and are great scout units. Use them with transports for super long range. If near water, you may want to run the risk of putting your base next to water, buying a cargo, and loading it up with troops for fast exapansion and capture of waterside cities. Just make sure your base is well defended against any kind of water attack or landing. Your first few turns should be used to capture cities, establish resource "clusters" near cities that you can harvest, and saving money for tech upgrades and more advanced units. Resist the urge to buy lower tech units unless you absolutely need them. One of the strongest early units is either the Predator aircraft or Tiger. The Predator can reach enemy expansion units (Trucks or Panthers) and quickly and wipe them out. The Tiger is great for taking out units entrenched in a fortified city. III. Managing Cities Use the management lab by pressing the V key at the beginning of every turn to manage your cities. The key to managing cities is to get more tax $ out of them than it costs you to maintain population growth through buying farms. Cities with No Farms Here is the basic idea: if a city has no farms get the population down below 1,000 (960-990) by taxing over 55% which causes a negative population growth. Many cities I capture without farms I automatically tax 100% on the first turn to whack the population down quickly and gain easy cash. If you can't get them under 1000 after the first turn, you will have to lower the taxes to avoid overtaxation. Tax 100% on the first turn, 55% on the second, and whatever percentage on the third to get to the 960-990 tax range. On the fourth turn you can set to 55% to maintain constant population and forget about the city and collect $3 per turn. The management lab screen always tells you what the population will be on the next turn so you can experiment with the tax rate to get a preview of the population you will have. Holding down the CTRL key and highlighting many cities will let you change the tax rate for many cities at once. Useful when you have a lot to manage. Cities with 1 Farm Cities with farms I keep between 1000 - 1090. If you capture a city with a farm in this population range, set the tax rate at 55% and you are done. You will collect $4 per turn in tax from the city. If the population is higher, you will want to knock it down to this range by setting an appropriate tax range above 55%. Use the management lab (by pressing V key) to see how your set tax rate will affect population. Getting Metropolis A Metropolis is a city with a population of 5000 or more. It is useful because any university built here will get two technological discoveries instead of 1 which can save a lot of money, especially with Air Force universities. After you capture a few cities on your first couple of turns, set 1 or 2 of the highest existing population to 0% and let it grow for a few turns. You will have a Metropolis in no time. Make sure you guard the city well and if you have up to Patriot technology on the ground, build an Airforce university at the Metropolis to get the Predator and Hercule on one turn. IV. Moving Tips Since Metal Knights is a turn based game, getting the most movement out of your units is essential. Cut corners by moving diagonally whenver possible. This can save several movement points. Move one square at a time rather than several. You can plan a more efficient route to your destination than the computer can. Use transports extensively to extend range for almost all units. You can give Panther units a huge boost by loading them in a transport, moving the transport, then moving the Panther. This also works with the Hercule transport plane and the cargo transport ship. A shark and cargo can be used in tandem to greatly extend the range of a shark. Transports and infantry are essential. Always move on roads whenever possible. If you are moving frequently offroad (between resources for example), it may be worth the money to get a bulldozer and begin laying roads between destinations. Farms, resources, and cities only use up 1 movement point. V. University Tips For unregistered players, you have to buy universities in the same turn or on consecutive turns to get advanced technology. Registered players never lose their tech level no matter what turn they buy a university. Unregistered players must plan their buying accordingly and make sure they have enough money to keep building technology on successive turns. Here is how much each tech will cost so you can plan how much you will need to save: Ground University Panther - $80 M3/Elf - $86 Commando - $176 Striker/Tiger - $114 Grizzli - $140 Patriot - $178 Artillery - $182 Air Freedom - $180 Scorpion - $208 Scud - $232 Metal Knight - $220 Naval University Destroyer - $122 Shark - $198 Shooter - $216 Captain - $248 Air Force University Predator - $264 Hercule - $206 (must have up to Patriot tech) Apache - $300 Eagle - $340 Falcon - $310 Furtif - $372 Nuclear - $2000 VI. Units Here is a breakdown of each unit and its Attack, Defense, and Movement specs. Abbreviations: A = Ground Attack D = Defense M = Movement Air = Air Attack R = Attack Range C = Cost Truck A - 1 D - 1 M - 5 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 24 Bulldozer A - 1 D - 1 M - 5 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 25 Transport A - 1 D - 3 M - 9 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 33 Soldier A - 1 D - 2 M - 4 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 18 Porcupine A - 1 D - 1 M - 5 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 20 Alpha Warrior A - 3 D - 3 M - 5 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 34 Panther A - 3 D - 3 M - 8 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 40 M 31 A - 4 D - 4 M - 5 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 43 Elf A - 4 D - 5 M - 10 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 50 Commando A - 2 D - 3 M - 10 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 88 Tiger A - 8 D - 5 M - 7 Air - 0 R - 2* C - 67 Striker A - 6 D - 6 M - 2 Air - 0 R - 4* C - 57 Grizzli A - 7 D - 7 M - 8 Air - 2 R - 1 C - 70 Patriot A - 6 D - 10 M - 2 Air - 0 R - 10* C - 89 Artillery A - 11 D - 3 M - 11 Air - 0 R - 5* C - 91 Air Freedom A - 0 D - 5 M - 10 Air - 12 R - 6* C - 90 Scud A - 15 D - 1 M - 4 Air - 0 R - 10* C - 116 Scorpion A - 13 D - 11 M - 10 Air - 2 R - 1 C - 104 Metal Knight A - 18 D - 13 M - 11 Air - 4 R - 1 C - 135 Hawkeye A - 0 D - 1 M - 0 Air - 10 R - 6 C - 61 Predator A - 5 D - 3 M - 18 Air - 3 R - 1 C - 132 Hercule A - 0 D - 5 M - 14 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 103 Apache A - 8 D - 6 M - 12 Air - 5 R - 1 C - 150 Eagle A - 14 D - 10 M - 12 Air - 1 R - 1 C - 160 Falcon A - 1 D - 8 M - 14 Air - 14 R - 1 C - 155 Furtif A - 9 D - 10 M - 15 Air - 12 R - 1 C - 186 Nuclear A - 99 D - 0 M - 0 Air - 0 R - 25 C - 1000 Scout A - 4 D - 5 M - 20 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 50 Cargo A - 0 D - 5 M - 18 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 60 Destroyer A - 6 D - 7 M - 19 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 61 Shark A - 6 D - 8 M - 15 Air - 0 R - 1 C - 99 Shooter A - 8 D - 10 M - 19 Air - 3 R - 7 C - 108 Captain A - 15 D - 13 M - 22 Air - 4 R - 1 C - 124 *These units must attack targets at least 2 spaces away Ground Units Truck - Use trucks in tandem with transports to gather resources and return to cities more quickly. Bulldozer - Starts resources, builds roads, and drops flags for extra defense. Flags get a defense of 3 and are cheap to make. Can use to drop around base or key cities to make it harder for enemy units to hit vital targets. Transport - Use extensively with any ground unit to extend range of unit. Soldier - Not good for much other than capturing cities. Use with transports. Porcupine - Stack several in your base or another city for large defensive value. Use in trucks to bolster defense when transporting weaker units. Drop in roads for a nice trap for your enemies! Alpha Warrior - Good against weaker units like soldiers, trucks, etc. When nothing else is available, use in tandem with Porcupines to guard base or cities. Panther - Quick city snatching unit. Travels fast and is a bit cheaper than a transport, soldier combo and gets more attack, defense. Can use in tandem with transport. M 31 - Fairly useless tank unless your opponent has weak units. Elf - This technology comes with the M 31 university. Much faster unit than M 31 and good for quick strikes early in the game or used against less powerful units. Group them together for surround bonuses on slightly more powerful units. Fair defensive ability. Commando - Great invisible unit for capturing cities in enemy territory. Use it to scout out cities to see what is inside. Can be used to scout before air strikes are launched in enemy territory. Not much attack and defense so keep these away from the enemy. Tiger - Very good Porcupine clearing unit. Hits from 2 spaces away. Good for hit and run strikes and has more attack power than the Grizzli. Very good bang for the buck. Striker - Needs transport unit to move anywhere. Can strike from up to 6 spaces away with a moderate attack. Not a very expensive unit. Can place in out of the way cities near key crossroads for fun sniping action. Grizzli - Good all around ground unit. If money for higher tech is not there, spend the cash on this unit. Patriot - Excellent defense and range fighting. Place in Hercule or other transport for extra protection for valuable cargo. Load up in a base or key city with Porcupines for incredible defense. If a Scud attacks it, it may lose a few but will take out the entire Scud! Artillery - Incredible movement and range, a deadly weapon but needs to be protected due to low defense. Can move in, fire a deadly volley, and move out to protected location. Great unit if you have the money. Air Freedom - A must have if your opponents have upper level air force tech like Falcon, Eagle, Furtif etc. No better unit to fight powerful aircraft. High movement and range ability lets it move in, fire, and move out quickly to protected location. Scud - Extreme attack range and second best ground attack behind the Metal Knight. Weak movement and poor defense mandate you keep it well out of enemy range. Don't dare attack a Patriot with it as it will be annhilated. Scorpion - Very powerful tank that can clean house, especially in groups. Don't rely on it alone to go up against a well defended base, though. Metal Knight - Most powerful ground unit in the game. Must use high power artillery and aircraft like Furtifs to defeat it successfully. Use in conjunction with lower units to assault heavily fortified bases. Will run through any other unit in the open field. Air Force Units Hawkeye - Technically a ground unit but sells in the Air Force section of bases. Nice, cheap, low tech anti-air defense. Use with devastating impact against Predators early in the game. Can't move on their own, use with transports and spread out in cities for good anti-air coverage. Very weak defense means they need to be put with Porcupines, fortifications, or other units in a city to resist any attack. Predator - Good unit to destroy weak enemy units early in the game. Will knock out Panthers, infantry, and transports very easily if other defenses are not present. Very vulnerable to Hawkeye anti-aircraft fire. Incredible range lets you hit targets your enemies think are out of range. Hercule - Essential air transport plan. Load up a Patriot inside for added defense. Transfer up to 5 units at a time. Great for dropping a team of units into enemy territory and moving newly created units to frontlines quickly. Apache - Good all around unit that can hit air and ground units and has decent defense. Use in tandem with ground units to finish up or weaken targets. Will get eaten up by more powerful air to air units or anti-air units like Air Freedom however. Eagle - Excellent ground attack unit with highest strongest defense in the air force. Pound tough ground units with it and use as first strike weapon. Falcon - Awesome air to air firepower, nothing contends with it! Take out any air unit (except another falcon) easily. Great maneuverability. Provides a nice escort for Hercule loaded with attack units. Furtif - The ultimate in steal technology. Launch attacks at your opponent and they won't even see you coming. Furtif has very strong defense, strong ground attack, and vicious air attack. The only drawback is its expense. Nuclear - Destroys all ground units in a large radius. Can hit targets from 25 spaces away. Use to clear out those heavily defended bases. Naval Units Scout - Huge movement capability and moderate fround attack. Use to hit undefended enemy expansion units on a bridge or next to water. Cargo - Can transport up to 8 units at once!! However, if your base isn't on the water you will have to build a factory in a water city in order to deploy. Can be used to grab many coastal cities early on. Can dispatch a large attack force in enemy territory quickly. Destroyer - Great movement and good attack power make it a versatile unit. Shark - Necessary for exploring wrecks which can yield big money. Use with a Cargo to extend transportation range. Good attack power against naval units and is invisible to enemies. Shooter - Very good attack power from up to 7 spaces away. Great for hitting targets while staying out of the fray. Captain - Extreme ground attack and decent air attack with incredible movement. The true king of the seas. VII. Getting the Upper Hand Knowing how far you can move in a turn is essential. You can sometimes surprise an enemy by capturing a city he didn't think you can reach. Hide your units in your cities or resources between turns. Never reveal more about your strength than you have to. Stealth units are way cool. The stealth units are the Commando, Shark, and Furtif. Use them well. The Hercule is one of the most important units in most games. Get it soon for vast maneuverability and attack options. You opponent cannot fly over or move through your occupied cities that only have 1 or 2 spaces in between them. Therefore, expansion can be a great defense. Since a unit's turn is done once it attacks, you want to make your opponent use up unit turns by attacking non-essential targets. Use fortifications in cities to slow down an enemy advance. Play against yourself or the computer (for registered users) to practice moves and tactics. Match up units against each other to test strengths. Go after groups of wrecks at all costs. The wealth of cash might mean the game for you. Don't worry about few wrecks spread out. Sometimes an indirect approach is much more profitable than a head on attack. Always keep your opponent guessing and stay on the offensive. Register the game. Registered users get an upper hand by being able to play more games at once and get more experience and also the ability to keep technological upgrades without worrying about buying universities on successive turns. This can be a huge help in any game. There are several registration options: Gold Registration ($16.00) - Play against computer artificial intelligence on your local computer whenever you want. All future upgrades of the game are free. NetMetal Registration ($24.00) - Play up to 8 games online at once, keep technology, and create your own alliances. Able to reset your records if you wish. All future upgrades of the game are free. NetMetal Lite Registration ($16.00) - Play up to 6 games online at once, keep technology, and create your own alliance. All future upgrades of the game are free. Gold + NetMetal Registration ($32.00) - All the features of Gold and NetMetal registration. Play against computer, play up to 8 games online at once, keep technology, and create your own alliances. Able to reset your records if you wish. All future upgrades of the game are free. Register online through a secure server at http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=1113-1&affiliate=1687