Friday, 30 September 2022

Spies Among the Governors

If there is a reason to suspect an Infiltrator among the Governors that could forward the Attack Coordinates to the opponent, one way to circle around this is to give the attack coordiniates on abstract manner.

For example, every Governor is instructed to have target(s), the number of Attacks or Troops they should use and how many Fake Attacks should they make, but let them choose the villages they attack or fake themselves. In this way, the Infiltrator will have the same information as their team, without the knowledge which attack is fake and more interestingly, you wont know either until the Reports come in. 

There really isnt that much difference what villages are being targeted. The Attack Pattern is what makes the difference. You can even generate pre made attack patterns which the Governors are supposed to know or at least have a solid list representing their role in each. If these patterns are made in abstract manner, it doesnt really matter do the opponent know that they are going to be hit with "Delta 1" or "Roomsweeper", or what it is.

This can also make the attacks more interesting for the Governors, as they can affect what villages they are going to attack themelves giving them an option of choise rather than just being told what to do. So, on top of neglecting the usefulness of Infiltrators, it can actually make the game more fun for your Governors.

Still, at least the main attackers with the bigger armies should be trustworthy persons if there is a need for pinpoint accuracy on the plan. Giving them separate instructions in private and the general pattern in public, if any. But sometimes you dont have this luxury, especially if your Kingdom is made from unknown Governors that are recruited within the game. The ideal scenario would of course be, that each of your Governors are trustworthy, and there would be no need for this. But still, even then allowing them to choose their targets might be fun.

For example, a Support Roman might get this kind of Instruction: 

Target Opposing Governor A or B - 4 Attacks Each and 4 Fakes Each

It does not even matter, if a second Governor (but not three) is given the same targets A and B, or will they hit the same villages twice as long as they are insructed to target different fields (causing potentially the loss of 8+8 = 16 Resource Fields in that villlage). If these attacks are from Teuton, they probably cannot choose the targets for Catapults in the first place (which doesnt mean they should not have them).

These attacks are a distraction (that can still cause damage) anyway, and are only meant to support the main attack.

As for the Main Attackers, they may be instructed to hit fakes to either Treasuries, Crop Capitols or Supports or all of them, and then choose the main attack from one of the target types, or from pre arranged targets. These instructions are also given in private.

This is chaotic, and the result may not be optimal. But so is defending this. The best part is, the Infiltrators are forced to possibly attack their own Team without gaining any information as a benefit, or be caught as one (that is alway either "idle" or does not follow instructions - so no need to have him/her on your team = You just found a new Farm).


One way to do this, is to arrange the Main Attacker and the Support Attackers as pairs so, that the Support Attackers forwards their reals and fakes to the Main Attacker they are partnered with, who then chooses their targets. In this way, they know to support the fakes with fakes, and choose the real target(s) within the reals but none else than these two actually know and even then, the Support does not hold the information what the Main Attacker have chosen. On top of that, the Main Attacker might have given separate instructions to Attack (and/or Fake) or choose a target from either Capitols or Treasuries.

Basically all attacks should always target (with either Fakes or Reals) Support Villages (some of them), Capitols (all or some of them) and Treasuries (all of them). 

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