Welcome!
This is a website for the All For One Metal Knights alliance. I will post hints and tricks from all members, this site should benefit us all as an alliance. If any of the information doesnt make sense, or can be improved please feel free to mail me in game. If we all play the same way with the same aggression we can rule the Metal Knights alliance ladder. I have broken the information down into sections below.
Expansion
All For One
Expansion is an investment in every sense. Spend intial cash on units which take cities and mines, which means more money over time. If a wreck map is played, get sharks as soon as possible to collect wrecks for quick one time cash. Out shark the opponents. The payoff time is very short.Because of the progressive nature of these developments, it's better to doze as many mines as you can as well as claim as many cities as early as you can. The resource will build up; taxes are collected every turn. there's plenty of time to harvest the mines with trucks, so spend those precious $s getting new mines. Buy trucks later when your money is worth less.
The next objective of expansion is to bring the war to your enemies base first. Stretch out towards your opponents before they reach you. You want to reach their base before they reach yours, so head straight for them.Force them on defense while you are on offense. You continue to expand and they spend money on defense. Chances are good you will win. Push those initial units out as far as they can go. Don't worry about getting cities close to your base - those can easily be taken later. I cannot emphasize planning enough. Turn0 sets the pace of your game. Look ahead, and send out transports and cargos to give you explosive expansion the next turn. If there's a fork in the road up ahead, send out 2 transports even if the second one won't take any new cities this turn. You'll have another expansion arm next turn. With experience, you'll be able to instantly see where your units will be 2-3 turns ahead.
The next objective of expansion is to bring the war to your enemies base first. Stretch out towards your opponents before they reach you. You want to reach their base before they reach yours, so head straight for them.Force them on defense while you are on offense. You continue to expand and they spend money on defense. Chances are good you will win. Push those initial units out as far as they can go. Don't worry about getting cities close to your base - those can easily be taken later. I cannot emphasize planning enough. Turn0 sets the pace of your game. Look ahead, and send out transports and cargos to give you explosive expansion the next turn. If there's a fork in the road up ahead, send out 2 transports even if the second one won't take any new cities this turn. You'll have another expansion arm next turn. With experience, you'll be able to instantly see where your units will be 2-3 turns ahead.
TAXES
One For All
Tax strategy is based on the concept that money is worth more in the beginning of the game. So squeezing every dollar out of your cities in the beginning will lead to better expansion, which leads to more $ in the long run.
In a city with a pop of 1040;
100% tax = -12% growth and $8 income.
63% = -2% growth and $5 income.
52% = 0% growth and $4 income.
38% = 4% growth and $3 income.
13% = 10% growth and $1 income.
0% = 20% growth with no income.
A better strategy for the long haul on sparse maps is set each city to the highest rate it can take without going below 1000 pop, or being overtaxed. Use the V button to check on all your cites. Adjust taxes in each city to squeeze as much money in taxes as possible.Once a city will starve, drop it below 1k pop and keep it there. When a game is over on turn5 or 6, you want your money FAST. The advantage to reducing a city's pop in this manner is you don't need to buy costly farms and you average $5+ a city for the first 3-4 turns. Exceptions are very slow maps with farms. Then you can safely build population.
In a city with a pop of 1040;
100% tax = -12% growth and $8 income.
63% = -2% growth and $5 income.
52% = 0% growth and $4 income.
38% = 4% growth and $3 income.
13% = 10% growth and $1 income.
0% = 20% growth with no income.
A better strategy for the long haul on sparse maps is set each city to the highest rate it can take without going below 1000 pop, or being overtaxed. Use the V button to check on all your cites. Adjust taxes in each city to squeeze as much money in taxes as possible.Once a city will starve, drop it below 1k pop and keep it there. When a game is over on turn5 or 6, you want your money FAST. The advantage to reducing a city's pop in this manner is you don't need to buy costly farms and you average $5+ a city for the first 3-4 turns. Exceptions are very slow maps with farms. Then you can safely build population.
METROS
Here is yet another case where understanding the pace of a game is vital. It takes a city with zero tax until turn8 to become a metro.If the game won't last that long, there's no need for them. If cash is minimal and the game will last more than 20 turns it may be beneficial to use 2 of them for the 4 air advances between herc and nuke. Herc and nuke are key tech levels, herc is needed well before turn8, but the adv. air units are useless until the nuke. You might as well wait for metros to save you $676. If you are making a metro set it's tax to 0% and keep it there until it'll break 5k in population.
Fast games and Non-nuke games = no metros.
Slow games and nuke games = 2 metros.
Fast games and Non-nuke games = no metros.
Slow games and nuke games = 2 metros.
MINES
Assignment
When every dollar is needed only assign a truck to a mine or group of mines with no cities in reach. If a truck can load and sell a resource in the same turn, don't assign it. When money is plentiful on large maps with tons of resources, you may want to start assigning trucks to save yourself time and effort of collecting all that money.
Factories
On the fifth turn after buying the factory, you break even. But since $50 on turn0 is worth a helluva lot more than $50 on turn5, you are really sinking a lot of cash into a non-paying investment. An exception to this is a large map with limited cities, where your expansion is severely limited. Money is worth more early because of how you can expand with it. Take away the expansion possibilities, and factories look better. Use your judgment.
When every dollar is needed only assign a truck to a mine or group of mines with no cities in reach. If a truck can load and sell a resource in the same turn, don't assign it. When money is plentiful on large maps with tons of resources, you may want to start assigning trucks to save yourself time and effort of collecting all that money.
Factories
On the fifth turn after buying the factory, you break even. But since $50 on turn0 is worth a helluva lot more than $50 on turn5, you are really sinking a lot of cash into a non-paying investment. An exception to this is a large map with limited cities, where your expansion is severely limited. Money is worth more early because of how you can expand with it. Take away the expansion possibilities, and factories look better. Use your judgment.
