Battlefield evening battle

How it works

• When you register, the soldiers you picked leave your village but still count towards your army capacity. Until the battle starts you can change your registration or withdraw; the soldiers come back.
• There are two battles a day: 18:00 and 20:00; you register for each separately. In the 18:00 battle half of your fallen soldiers (per unit type, rounded down) recover and return to your village when the battle ends, and this battle gives no diamonds; in the 20:00 battle fallen soldiers die, and the top 10 contributors get diamonds.
• When the battle starts, the first 50 who registered enter the battlefield automatically; you do not need to open the battlefield screen, and if you do not, the server commander controls your units. The soldiers of those who do not fit return to the village.
• You can also join for 10 minutes after the battle has started: press JOIN THE BATTLE on the battlefield and pick your soldiers; your companies enter the battle immediately at the muster ground you chose. Enemies equal to the late-arriving soldiers are added to the next wave.
• The enemy is 1,3 times the player soldiers and comes in three waves: at the latest at the start of the battle, at the 7th and the 14th minute. If all enemies on the field fall, the next wave does not wait and descends within 20 seconds at most; the remaining time is counted at the top. The commander comes down from the foot of the ridge with the last wave; if the commander falls it is a victory, if they are still standing at the 20th minute or all player companies fall it is a defeat.
• The battlefield is 1,5 × 0,95 km. The Kara Su river is crossed only by the stone bridge and the stone road of the pass; companies enter the bridge in column, the roads wind around the river's bends, and nobody walks through the water. Companies slow down in the forest, on the hill and in the marsh. The Steppe Wall formation is slow.
• Your soldiers fight in separate companies by unit type: Spearmen start in front, Archers behind, Raiders and Heavy Cavalry on the flanks. You command each company individually or together; riders are twice as fast as foot soldiers. When you march several companies to one spot, they take up battle formation where you tapped: spearmen in front, archers behind, raiders on the left, heavy cavalry on the right.
• Melee starts when companies come within 12 m of each other; at range only archers strike (110 m, +25% on the hill). Archers do not shoot while marching; when they stop they shoot at the target you picked, otherwise at the nearest enemy. If you march a company that is fighting somewhere else, it withdraws from the fight and does not strike while withdrawing.
• Spearman abilities: Spear Wall 15 s (holds position; damage from riders −60%, damage to riders +50%; cooldown 40 s), Javelin Throw (2 s of javelins on a 14 m area you pick within 45 m; x1,5 vs riders; 35 s), Shield Cover 12 s (arrow damage −65%, melee −15%, the company slows; 40 s).
• Archer abilities: Arrow Rain 8 s (arrows rain on every enemy in a 22 m area you pick up to 1,4 times the range, the archers stop; 40 s), Fire Arrow (a 16 m area you pick burns for 12 s, enemies inside take losses every second and slow down; 55 s), Armor Piercing 8 s (x2,2 against the company you pick, pierces shield wall and forest, even harder on heavy armor and the commander; 45 s).
• Rider abilities: Raid (gallop up to 120 m to the spot you pick, speed x1,5, damage x1,6; 35 s), Hit-and-Run (10 s of horse-archer fire from 55 m at a company within 150 m, no melee, then returns to where it set out; 45 s), Iron Charge (a straight charge up to 100 m to the spot you pick; tramples every enemy company in its path once, damage x2; 45 s), Banner 12 s (friendly companies within 45 m, other players' too, strike 15% harder and take 15% fewer losses; 60 s).
• Only one ability runs in a company at a time (Fire Arrow's burning area continues separately). A move, attack or retreat order ends Spear Wall, Arrow Rain, the Fire Arrow shot, Javelin and Hit-and-Run. If you order ATTACK with ALL selected, each company automatically uses one of its ready abilities that helps once it enters range of the target.
• The name of every player on our side is shown under their soldiers; yours is in gold.
• Every company carries its own banner: yours gold, your allies' turquoise, Byzantium red, China black; when a company falls its banner falls to the ground too. Byzantine banners fly on the towers of the Byzantine fortress, ours at the headquarters.
• Points: every Spearman, Archer or Swordsman you kill 1, Raider 2, Heavy Cavalry 3 points; every minute you hold the hill, the pass and the bridge 5 points; the blow that fells the commander 50 points; every soldier of yours alive at the end of the battle 1 point (if you joined late, in proportion to the time you spent on the battlefield).
• Fallen soldiers die permanently (in the 18:00 battle half recover and return), survivors return to the village. Reward: 1,5 times the training cost of your fallen soldiers, and your point share of the per-participant pool (1.500 wood, 1.500 stone, 2.000 food, 800 iron, 200 gold) is credited to your warehouse.
• While the battle is running you call 1–40 soldiers from your village with the Reinforcements button: the company arrives from behind the muster ground; if it is a single unit type, that type's abilities work. Each slot is called once per battlefield, with a 45 s wait between two calls. Survivors return to the village when the battle ends, the fallen die; the enemy grows by half the soldiers called. When you march several companies, reinforcements form a second line behind the main army.
• Reinforcement slot I is free. Slot II unlocks for 30 and slot III for 60 diamonds, for 4 battlefields; a use is deducted only when you call the slot, and a battlefield where you do not call it does not consume your allowance.
• With Message you send one of eight quick signals (Attack, Hold here, Help, Fall back, Charge the commander, Join me, Reinforcements incoming, Thank you) or a message of up to 120 characters. You place a location signal by tapping a spot on the battlefield; it stays on the field with a flag and your name for 12 s, and tapping the line moves the camera there. Only battle participants can write; the world chat rules apply here too.
• If you do not open the battlefield screen for 20 seconds, or do nothing for 60 seconds while it is open (giving orders, calling reinforcements and writing count), the server commander controls your units: it uses their abilities, does not leave them idle, and takes them to the nearest enemy within 700 m. You are warned 10 s before; at your first order your army returns to you. On the web (2D) the Battlefield card in Events takes you to the battlefield in 3D.

Step by step

1. When registration opens (17:30 and 19:30), tap the Battlefield card in Events; on the web the card opens 3D.
2. Pick your soldier counts (at least 10, at most 40), choose the muster ground (A Hill, B Forest, C Plain) and the formation, then press JOIN THE BATTLEFIELD.
3. When the battle starts your company enters automatically; open the battlefield screen to command it yourself. If you did not register, you can join with JOIN THE BATTLE on the battlefield in the first 10 minutes of the battle.
4. In battle, tap one of the unit cards at the bottom to select only that unit (tap again and the camera goes to it); hold to add it to the selection, ALL selects every unit. Tap the ground and the selected units march there; tap an enemy company and order ATTACK (if only archers are selected, SHOOT: they move into range and shoot).
5. When you select a unit, its abilities appear above the unit cards: self-targeted ones start when tapped; for area abilities (Arrow Rain, Fire Arrow, Javelin, Raid, Iron Charge) you tap the target area on the battlefield, for Armor Piercing and Hit-and-Run an enemy company (the strip at the top shows the maximum distance, Cancel lets go). With several units selected, the Abilities button opens all their abilities. With archers selected, Cease fire / Open fire stops or resumes shooting. The Formation button changes the formation; Retreat, with two taps, takes the selected units to the muster ground and out of the battle. The eye button on the right moves the camera behind the selected unit (Unit's eye).
6. You rotate the camera with two fingers and tilt it by sliding two fingers up and down together (up: towards the horizon); in 3D, dragging with the right mouse button rotates horizontally and tilts vertically. Zooming in takes you down to grass level. The compass next to the − button returns the camera to the initial view. As the battle opens, the camera glides over the army; tapping the screen ends it immediately, and that tap does not count as an order.
7. When your soldiers run low, tap the Reinforcements button: pick the slot, set the counts from the soldiers in your village and press CALL REINFORCEMENTS. On a locked slot you tap UNLOCK twice (the second is the confirmation). Tap Message, pick a signal and show its spot on the battlefield, or write your message and press SEND.
8. When the battle ends, see your returning soldiers, your reward and your contribution rank on the Result page; the reward is added to your warehouse automatically.

Key numbers

Schedule

18:00 and 20:00 · 20 minutes each — Turkey time, from 19 October. Registration opens half an hour before; you can still join for 10 minutes after the battle starts.

Participation

10–40 soldiers, 50 players — Spearmen, Archers, Raiders and Heavy Cavalry. The first 50 who register enter automatically when the battle starts.

Enemy

Byzantium · China — Monday, Wednesday, Friday Byzantium; Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday China; Sunday both at once.

Reward

Losses ×1,5 + pool — In the 20:00 battle the top 3 contributors get 60 / 40 / 30 diamonds, ranks 4–10 get 15; the 18:00 battle gives no diamonds. On defeat, 30% of the resources.

Reinforcements

3 slots · 1–40 soldiers — Called from your village while the battle is running. Slot I is free; slot II unlocks for 30 and slot III for 60 diamonds, for 4 battlefields.