Age of Conquest - Game Manual


Overview
Age of Conquest is a turn-based strategy game, where you take the reigns of a budding empire and struggle for control of the world.

Goal
You win the game by expanding your empire so that you reach 100 points. You can also claim victory by eliminating all the other rulers from the map. Please note you lose the game if your ruler has been killed.

How to Play
The game is played turn-based. Each turn you go through the following states:
(1) View events from last turn.
(2) View tax income & expenses.
(3) View standings.
(4) Input your orders.

The amount of gold and move points to execute orders is limited. The more provinces you own, the more tax income and move points you get. See below for more information.

Each turn you have several types of orders at your disposal (depending on game):
[Move] to move military units.
[Recruit] to buy military units.
[Fortify] to fortify a province.
[Tower] to build a watch tower.
[Disband] to disband military units.
[Diplo] to send diplomatic requests.
[Message] to send messages to others.
[Support] to send gold to others.
[Purchase] to purchase neutral provinces.
[Espionage] to spy on others.
[Sabotage] to sabotage others.
[Rally] to rally troops.

Be aware that the ruler cannot move on his own. You can move the ruler with your military units only.

Having submitted your orders, the game engine determines the order in which all your orders and the orders of the other players are executed. Attack orders generally follow the order in which they were entered. Events entered at the same time are randomized between players.

Important: Please note it is not always possible to execute all the orders scheduled. If you ordered your military units to leave a province, but the province is taken before your order is executed, your order will not go into effect for obvious reasons.

Map
A map contains the following types of provinces:
(a) Your Provinces (yellow text)
(b) Neutral Unclaimed Provinces (gray colored)
(c) Ally Provinces (green text)
(d) Enemy Provinces (red text)
(e) Vassals and Friends (blue text)

Each province has a known or unknown amount of military units that defend it. If a ruler is inside a province, he is displayed as a crown symbol on the province. Build watch towers next to an unknown province to determine the number of military units and if there is a king hiding on the territory.

Towns increase tax income and military strength of a province. Fortified provinces as well help increase the defense bonus.

Each observable province displays an indicator for the population size and economy just next to the number with the military strength of the province. There are exactly 0-5 people icons and 0-5 wheat icons representing the actual size of population and economy.

Game Types
Standard (Default): You win the game by claiming the majority of all the provinces on the map. Please note that allies' provinces count as 35% and your vassal states' provinces as 41% towards your victory points. If you have been made a vassal, your master's provinces count as 29% towards your points.

World Domination: Conquer all the provinces on the map to win the game. Your allies' provinces count as 100% towards your points. Most suited for single player games.

Attack & Defense
All battles are non-random. Consider the following parameters:
100% military base strength.
+30% attack & defense bonus for a ruler.
+50% defense bonus for towns.
+80% defense bonus for fortifications.

To determine the winner of a battle, the attack strength is compared with the defense strength. If the attacker is stronger, he takes over the province. Otherwise, the defender keeps the province destroying the attacking army in full.

The strength is calculated by multiplying the number of military units with the sum of the relevant attack and defense bonuses.

Income & Expenses
Your income and expenses are based on various factors. Your main income comes from taxes as well as income from vassals. Your expenses include military upkeep, spending on economy as well as vassal payments. Tax rate and spending rates can be adjusted on the empire screen (if the empire management option is enabled for the game).

The income from taxes is based on the following equation:
Tax = (PROD * 0.08)^0.96*T_RATE*MOR
PROD: Sum of (ECO * POP) / 50000
ECO: Economy Size of a Province
POP: Population Size of a Province
T_RATE: Tax in % / 10
MOR: Morale in % / 100

Please note that increasing the tax rate will reduce the morale. An increased tax rate can be used for short term income gain. However, be aware that low morale will reduced income in the long run. The default value for tax rate is 10% which will leave morale unaffected.

Military expenses equal to 0.2 Gold per military unit per turn for 80% military spending. Expenses for population and economy growth depend on your settings for economy spending. View the empire screen for details.

Economy & Population
The population of a province decreases during recruitment of military units and increases for disbanding thereof. There is a fixed population growth rate for each province. People from provinces with a higher population size migrate to provinces with a lower population size.

The economy grows, if the population size is higher than the size of the economy. The economy shrinks if the population size is less than the size of the economy. Both population size and economy are the main contributors towards an empire's income. Productivity is measured as population size times the size of the economy.

Diplomacy
The following diplomatic relations are available within the game if diplomacy is enabled.
Alliance: A strong diplomatic tie between two or more empires. Empires which have formed an alliance cannot attack each other. Canceling an alliance results in a 3-turn cease fire.
Vassalage: A relation between a liege and his vassal where the liege is considered the protector of the vassal. A vassal gives 10% of his income to the liege. A vassal and a liege cannot attack each other. Canceling a vassalage results in a 2-turn cease fire.
At Peace: Empires with a peace treaty cannot attack each other. Canceling a peace treaty results in a 1-turn cease fire.
At War: Empires that have attacked each other.
Cease-Fire: A limited turn non-agressive pact. Empires with a cease-fire cannot attack each other. A cease-fire cannot be canceled. It expires after a set deadline.
Neutral: No diplomatic relations established.

Morale
As things stand, tax rate affects morale and morale affects tax income. The higher the morale, the more tax income. See Income & Expenses for details. Also affected is rallying your troops. The lesser the morale the lesser the troops.

Diplomatic actions and bad spending habits affect morale:
-12% for breaking with your vassal.
-8% for breaking an alliance.
-3% for breaking with your lord (you being a vassal).
-2% for breaking a peace treaty.
-1% per turn for negative money.

Note: Morale is in effect only if empire management is enabled.

Move Points
The number of move points per turn is determined by the following mathematical equation:
MP = (MP0 / 2) + 2.2 + provinces^0.63
MP0: leftover MP.
provinces: number of provinces owned.

Tips & Strategy
(A) Keep your ruler safe.
(B) Expand fast.
(C) Capture enemy rulers.
(D) Increase territory but reduce borders.

Code of Conduct for Online Game-Play
Age of Conquest is a game about world domination, so expect other players to use dirty strategies to reach their goal. Do not go after the same player in other games just to get revenge. Note, it does not necessary mean somone is out for revenge if you are attacked by the same player in multiple games. You might just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Rule 1: Breaking Diplomatic Relations
There is nothing wrong breaking an alliance, vassalage or a non-agressive pact. Otherwise, there would be no option to cancel diplomatic relations.

Rule 2: Unavailablility to Play Turns
Ask for a fixed turn cease-fire before you leave e.g. for vacation. Plus send a text message explaining your situation. Other players are encouraged to accept the cease-fire. The favor will be returned to you once you find yourself in the same situation.

Just posting your leave on the wall is not a good way to go about things. A fixed turn cease-fire makes it clear on when you are absent, where as posting in the wall doesn't. "Sunday" here is "Monday" in other parts of the world.

Rule 3: Do Not Use Foul Language
There are no cheat-codes. It's all fair game. There is no reason to use foul language during messaging for on the wall. Unless it's part of the game and not personal.

Advice
Breaking verbal agreements, diplomatic relations and using dirty tactics might make you win a few games in the short run but will ultimately make you unpopular in the long run. Use wisely!

Rules and advice provided by noblemaster (developer).

Further Reading
Please visit our web site for further information. Age of Conquest is available for multiple platforms including Android, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh and Linux.

Web Site: http://www.ageofconquest.com
Forums: http://www.multiplayerhub.com