Well I play on the G4TC server and what I see the most is, BE getting dumbass commanders. I would like to be a commander, but I am not very good at it. Does anyone know any good guides on it? Or maybe a experienced BE commander helping me in a pass worded server? Steam name: Vito11 or post here please
Play. There is no real way around it. You have to know what is and isn't viable in terms of research and as well what to expect to from infantry. There is no reading a guide on how to do a zerg rush or anything like that empires varies far to much from game to game. Watch and learn what good commanders do and emulate it.
Go to an empty server and get used to the controls. Speed is everything to infantry. Check the research tree pictures at the Empires Wiki and memorize the timings.
Ok i tried commanding again theres one problem. When ever I exit the command menu I can't open it. F2 doesn't work, and I even exited/rentered several times. Is there a way to bind a key?
Well to learn how to command you have to learn how to play the game first, simply put you must understand what kills what, and what works well. Then, only then are you ready for commanding. As for controls, head to an empty server and mess around.
Quick guide to commanding: press f2 place forward barracks place refinaries build a radar at main base build a vehicle factory at main base research for BE: reflective armor, fission engine, HE shells, medium tanks, heavies research for NF: reactive armor, 3-phase engine, guided missiles, heavies build another vehicle factory, some armories and turrets blame your team for defeat press Alt+F4 to ragequit
*build radar when there's no other people around you* , check the minimap often for an arrow in your team heading towards your cv.
Then you must talk about yesterday. Rarely saw so many fail commanders. Most important thing for commander: Listen to your players. Voice AND chat! Before commanding you should know the basics: - how to get into command view and rotate your view - how and where to place building - how to give targets - how to research Then for a good commander you also should know: - the map (where to build barracks/VF, where to defend, where to attack) - the costs for buildings/research/tanks - the research tree. I have printed this image: (http://wiki.empiresmod.com/index.php?title=Image:Empires223TechTree.gif) - and check the minimap very very often. This is your main screen. So the typical work of a commander is: Look on one frontline. Give targets. Place buildings as required. Look on the other frontline. Give targets. Place buildings as required. Check the minimap for enemys or players waiting for ref. Check if research is ready. Check ressources (lock/unlock VF). Place camera near to you to see scouts. Check all the building for full health. ... A good commander of course has a kind of strategie. Maybe you want to rush very fast (mostly don't working, because players ignoring you) or you want arty in the early game. For BE commander I suggest to research: Electrical->Reactive Armor->Advanced Magentic Research->3 Phase Electric then go for better weapons or better tanks or Physics->Projectile Physics->Reflective Armor (maybe also: Extended Range Canon) then go for better engine (depends on what you will research later) after this go for better weapons or better tanks or Biology->Regenerative Armor->Bio Diesel then choose another tree for better weapons or better tanks But most important is, that you research better armor and then better engine. Don't forget one of these! The research of course depends on map and situation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0 That video is worthwhile watching if your interested in learning how to command.
physics is fail for BE... you're better off researching electrical, it's the fastest time to research with the best engine. besides, fission engine is terribad if you really want a light armor you can get abs out of chem... it sucks at the beginning but makes a good heavy armor
i always freeball (i wanted to use that term since i know what it means :p) research sometimes successful, sometimes not the balancing changes too fast for there to be a good strategy to use every time imo
too fast? Do you think in terms of the lifespan of planets? Hell, that iron age went pretty fast, and I was taking a piss when the bronze age happened... EE is so obviously the best now it's insane. It's so unbalanced that there is no feasable counter-research. 2.24 might change this, but 2.23 has been slowly sucking the life out of empires for weeks now.
I still go bio (regen, biodiesel, BioMG, BioML) sometimes. It usually requires at least 5 skilled drivers, but regen is still pretty cheap. Also, don't underestimated a BioML LT. They can be quite devastating.
Commanding really is just a combination of knowing what's needed (by playing as a soldier) and knowing the interface (which is not that hard to pick up). Anyone who's played empires long enough can command within fifteen minutes of getting in the chair. Physics produces all round good stuff which can be used in many roles throughout the entire round. EE isn't a good starter for BE because their strength is in medium and heavy tanks, and reactive is poor on meds and utterly terrible on heavies, you want to get to meds and heavies as soon as possible and physics gives you a decent armor and cannon as well as DU/50 cal which is a great addon for larger tanks. Fission engine also has good speed and acceleration combined with acceptable cooling, ER also makes a superb artillery cannon. From there you simply have to branch into either EE or chemistry, getting rails/homing or HE/advanced coolant respectively. If you start in EE/chemistry you tend to have problems with armor, because as aforementioned, reactive sucks on later tanks, and absorbant is only really any good when you can take a heavy packed with plates, and even then it's terrible against missiles (which NF favour, especailly slow-ass high damage ones like salvo homing).
why would you want medium tanks anyway when you get fail AFV mark 2 for free get arty, win game tl;dr best research path for BE 2.23: reactive -> 3phase -> HE -> arty best research path for NF 2.23: reactive -> 3phase -> uml -> upgraded chassis -> HE -> arty
Stopped reading there As soon as dawgas posted I was going to make a smarmy comment about how he is a terrible commander, but his assessment is more or less spot on. nothing to add here
that's because I'm the best commander ever but really, there's no point in playing empires until there's more than one good research path
