<Rise of Nations - Armageddon Count Theory>

This article was written a few years ago after much thought and research.

Since it was written in the past when my skills were still insufficient, there may be some shortcomings or mistakes in the strategy.

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<Rise of Nations - Armageddon Count Theory>

※This experiment and theory are based on the standard rules for 1v1 individual matches.

(Armageddon Number 10)

There is a nuclear missile system that uses a draw called the Armageddon Count.

If you detonate a nuke as many times as the count runs out, the count becomes 0 and everyone is automatically eliminated (draw).

So most people use this count number to
inflict maximum damage on their opponents,
or they playfully watch the explosion because of the spectacle of the explosion,
or when defeat is imminent, they detonate a nuke until the count runs out to intentionally draw the game.

Of course, even if it ends in a draw, those who enjoy the game will not know,
but if you want to win the game even a little more and control the game more perfectly and effectively,
I think it's not a bad idea to read this article at least once.

My experiment starts here.
How far should we use the Armageddon count,
and how should we utilize the nuclear missile and Armageddon count?

Usually, many people are fascinated by the realistic and splendid depiction of the game,
and enjoy the sight of this nuclear missile unit exploding out of curiosity about its function.

Also, it is expected that those who are fascinated by the feeling of victory and pleasure,
and who have thought deeply about the function of the game,
will not think much about it.
So it was confirmed that there is a tendency to launch immediately after production until the Armageddon number reaches 1 or 2.

However, what I felt while playing Rise of Nations was that
of course, the impact of this nuclear attack is effective one by one,
but if you wait for a more dramatic timing and launch multiple simultaneously at once,
I expected that the effect would be maximized.

If you launch one nuclear attack immediately after completing it,
the impact will be great,
but it will be quickly recovered with resources generated from other cities.
In addition, since oil is an important resource that is already in short supply
(there are many places that need it and it costs a lot to collect it),
(oil units: tanks/armored vehicles/artillery/aircraft/ships, etc.) that use the same type of resource (oil) as the cost of nuclear production

the production of the oil units is delayed,
and the oil units become somewhat insufficient as much as the oil consumed while producing those expensive nuclear attacks
As a result, you will be pushed back on the front lines for a while while trying to produce the nuclear attacks,
and your power expansion and growth rate will gradually decrease during that timing. And every time you detonate, you have to take the disadvantage of market transaction sanctions (time increase per simultaneous explosion).

If you see a strategically advantageous timing on the front line and do not miss the opportunity created,
and use the stored nuclear missiles to scorch all the key cities,
the units that will be deployed to the front line will already be squeezing out the resource reserves,
and it will be almost at a standstill for a while, so you will have time to capture several cities.

This is more effective.

However, this theoretical and experimental strategy also has its problems.
The opponent may also have a missile base and may fire the nuclear missile first.
Then you can both compete to fire at that time,
but the biggest problem is
that if you store the missiles without firing them, the missile base becomes vulnerable to the opponent's attacks (bombers/conventional missiles/special forces). However, the Rise of Nations game doesn't seem to be as professional as StarCraft or LoL, but

As the game progresses, there are almost no scouting or specific building target destruction strategies,
and even scouting (using special forces/spy) doesn't work well,
so I think this strategy might still work.

And while storing nukes,

If you don't rush to produce a lot of nukes at once when producing them,

but slowly produce them one by one when you have enough oil and store them,

you can somewhat avoid the disadvantages of economic damage (resource cost) and market transaction sanctions after launch (increased time per simultaneous explosions) compared to rushing to produce and launch them in order to hit the maximum damage immediately after production.

This market transaction suspension may have already decided the game if you detonate them all at once when you have the chance,

but if you launch them one by one, you will fall over yourself and be subject to market transaction sanctions at the very moment when you need to push the front line.

Then should we store up to the maximum allowed by the Armageddon count and detonate them all at once?
If we do that and the opponent also responds with nukes, the cost of producing nukes will be wasted
or it will end up in an Armageddon draw, so
we should pour them out at an appropriate time or produce less.

Also, even if we don't use all of the Armageddon count and just defend,
if we leave it until the opponent uses that count, the player will detect the nuclear attack.
If we leave it, the nukes will be a burden or wasted,
and if we use them, there is a risk of a draw,
so if we think about it, it could be really difficult.

So where is the answer?

The answer lies in the "V-2" and "cruise missiles",
that is, conventional missiles.

After using up half of the Armageddon count with nuclear missiles (1v1 standard: about 60% suitable),
Now let's change the strategy to nuclear missile suppression with conventional missiles.

Then, plant countless special forces or spies in the opponent,
and use reconnaissance and sabotage to discover and destroy the opponent's missile base!

Even the missile base under construction.

(If you build the Kremlin Palace or Space Center with a mysterious power, the effect is doubled.)

Then, draw the opponent's attention with numerous oil units,
and use the oil money previously used to produce nuclear weapons to build bombers or conventional missiles,
and block the opponent's use of missile bases.

This is a gap strategy that completely overwhelms the opponent with nuclear missiles,
and then changes to a nuclear missile defense strategy to block the opponent's use of nuclear weapons.

This nuclear missile defense strategy

In the case of conventional missiles, it may not be as effective as a nuclear missile,
but it may be more effective than using nuclear weapons to push through the front lines with the savings of conventional missiles, which are cheap and easy, and use the oil units to exert real power.

If the Armageddon Count is used by about half of 10 (about 60% = 6 points used),

Since there are usually only a few cities used as resource production bases,

the number of Armageddons that can be simultaneously scorched earth comes out,
and the remaining count is used as a buffer zone for a draw,
to end the match as quickly as possible before the timer runs out. In fact, the Armageddon count is 10,
but if you don't want a draw, you have to leave at least 1,
so in fact the maximum count is not 10 but 9,
and if you use 5~6 shots here,
the count will be 4 at the maximum 10 points, but if you subtract 1 more, it will be 3 shots,
and if you don't want a draw, you can only fire 3 nukes that will be hit by the opponent.

And if you have a total of 4 shots until the Armageddon draw,
I think it's better than 1 or 2 points to prevent a draw.

And if you put pressure with oil units,
the opponent will also have no choice but to not produce that many nuclear missiles for the oil units.

When the Armageddon count is full, it is a large number that will be enough to burn you to ashes, so
If you use a certain amount of the count and then switch to a suppression strategy,
With a small number of opponent nukes that guarantee a draw,
Not all of your cities will be burned to ashes,
So I believe that the count will be a number of opportunities for victory, not a number of draws or eliminations, in a more advantageous position until the end of the game.

In the meantime, I believe that the strategy will be to first develop the [Missile Defense Shield] future technology,
Increase the Armageddon count by +2,
Increase the number of times nuclear weapons are used or the opportunity to defend against a draw.

-In the modern era, you need to hit a missile base twice to explode, but if you have one missile base at that price, the exchange rate is not established.
-In the information age, you need to upgrade to cruise missiles to finally kill a missile base in one shot, but it may be difficult to not fire nukes until then. - There is a bug that refunds all research costs if you blow up a missile base during the initial research of a nuclear missile, whether it is a bug or a bad balance patch. Because of this, the exchange rate is not correct.
- I haven't tried blowing up a missile base while producing a nuclear missile unit. The life or death of the above strategy depends on whether you get a 100% refund or if it disappears as a consumable.
- The thrill of successfully suppressing nuclear weapons with conventional missiles is overwhelming. Let's try it once...
- It is a strategy that has practically failed, but there is a lot of information that seems more useful than expected, so I'll leave it here.

-(I used Google Translate)-