All about troops

Everybody talks about gold and buildings in this game, but almost nobody explains the soldiers, so here is my little guide after playing with the army for a while. I am not a big general, but I learned the five types and what each one is good for. First, where they come from. Soldiers are trained in the Military Academy. Each level of the academy unlocks one new troop type, so the more you upgrade it the more types you can build. And one thing you must know from the start: soldiers are residents of your town, like normal people. Every soldier needs a house room to live in. If your houses are full, you cannot train more. So houses first, army second. The combat is all about two numbers, attack points and defense points. When you go and attack somebody, only your attack matters. When your soldiers sit at home or hold a conquered town, their defense matters. Every soldier also has a speed, and when you send a mixed army it travels at the speed of the SLOWEST one. Keep that in mind. Now the five types. These are the current numbers from my own academy: Assault troops (academy level 1): attack 500, defense 100, speed 100. The cheap hammer. Great for attacking because of the big attack, but weak if they have to defend. Do not leave only these at home. Defense troops (level 2): attack 100, defense 500, speed 100. The wall. These are what you keep at home to protect your town. High defense for a low cost, so they make you a bad target. Rapid intervention (level 3): attack 100, defense 100, speed 500. Fast but fragile. Alone they march five times quicker than the others, so they are good for a very fast strike, but their points are low, so do not expect them to win a big fight. Elite troops (level 4): attack 500, defense 500, speed 100. Strong both ways but slow. A good all rounder for attacking and holding, but they move slow, so a big elite army is a slow army. Special operations (level 5): attack 1000, defense 1000, speed 1000. The best in everything, attack, defense AND speed. The top tier, expensive, but they carry the most points per single soldier. A tip about speed that cost me a slow march once. Because the whole army moves at the slowest unit, if you mix rapid troops with elite troops the rapid ones do NOT make it faster, the whole group crawls at speed 100. If you want a fast strike, send the fast units together. And a tip about losses. When you win an attack you do not lose your whole army, you lose soldiers worth the defense you had to beat, and the game takes your most valuable units first. It is the same when you defend. So a huge overkill with your elites can waste your best soldiers. Send the right amount, not everything you own. So in short: build the academy up, build houses for them, keep defense troops at home as your wall, and take assault or elite (or special ops if you have them) when you go on the offensive. Understand the attack, defense and speed of each type and you already play the war part better than most people I meet.