I wanted to start a new thread that talked about general war strategies that apply to -every- war, rather than specific ones. First, I would like to quote the wiki: http://warmetal.wikia.com/wiki/Factions#Battle_Scoring
//start wiki
Battle Scoring:Points for damage and overkill to the enemy commander: +1 for each point of damage to the enemy commander
+1 for each point of overkill to the enemy commander
The maximum amount of points possible for both of the above combined is 10
There are specifics which affect how points for damage and overkill to the enemy commander are factored into the final score and are explained below
Auto Mode Winner
10 for winning, 15 if won before turn 9
Additional points for damage and overkill to the enemy commander
Loser
+1 for each point of damage against the enemy commander
Manual Mode (If your attack deck contains less than 10 cards, the following turn rules start 2 turns earlier per card missing from your deck)
Winner
Winning before turn 17: 15 for winning; additional points for damage and overkill to the enemy commander are only taken into account for the damage and overkill done on the winning turn
Winning on or after turn 17: 10 for winning (15 if won before turn 27); additional points for damage and overkill to the enemy commander are only taken into account for the damage and overkill done from turn 17 until the end of the battle
Loser
Defeated on or after turn 27: +1 for each point of damage against the enemy commander to a maximum of 10
SurgeThis manual attack mode allows the defender to go first and adds +20 to the score of the winner
Maximum possible scores Winning a battle using fight: 25
Winning a battle using surge: 45
Losing a battle: 10
Surrendering will award the defender 10 points and the attacker 0 points
Faction Points:Warning: This table may be outdated.
Attacking Faction Defending Faction
FP Difference Win FP Lose FP
+300 or more +9 -1? -5? +1
+200 to 299 +8 -1 -4? +2
+100 to 199 +7 -2 -4 +3
+50 to 99 +6 -2 -3 +4
-49 to +49 +5 -3 -3 +5
-50 to -99 +4 -3 -2 +6
-100 to -199 +3 -4 -2 +7
-200 to -299 +2 -4? -1 +8
-300 or more +1 -5? -1? +9
Note: FP Difference refers to Defending Faction's FP compared to the Attacking Faction. A positive difference indicates the Defending Faction has more Faction Points.
//end wiki
Note that surrendering makes it so that you will only lose 10 points in a battle. This is an exceptionally handy option, and helps to give greater value to your surges.
In a war, if you hover your cursor over your name, a box will pop up that says "Points Won:" and "Points against:" What really matters is the difference between the two--in other words, the net points that you've won. People frequently concentrate on surging so they can get a huge point total...but if you get 1000 points surging, then lose 850 points losing, then your contribution is no greater than the person that got 150 points in six victorious fights.
For the newer members who haven't had the time to fill out their decks, I would suggest that you concentrate on fighting first, and surge -only- if you find that you have a dominant deck that works well against our enemy. There are two reasons for this--first, we want you to focus on your -net- points, rather than your points won. Secondly, it benefits -you-: whether you win by fighting or surging, you are still only going to get 1 loyalty point. Why take the increased risk, unless we absolutely need the surge points to win? Once you get to 2,000 lp, you will find that you might enjoy surging more just for the increased difficulty. Until then, focus on the sure thing
That having been said, I'd like to say when it actually -is- appropriate to surge: if you think that you can win more than 60% of your fights surging, and -surrender on time- for the ones you lose, then it is appropriate to surge. The reason behind this is simple: let's say you get into 10 battles, and you win all 10 of those by fighting--that will net you ~200 points. Let's say that, instead, you win 6/10 fights, but you win by surging and you surrender as appropriate--you will still net ~200 points (40 x 6 victories - 4 x 10 surrender). In other words, if you get 3 surge victories for every 2 surrendered losses, you are scoring the same as you would if you were getting a perfect score with fights. Any ratio better than 3 surged victories to 2 surrendered losses is most likely better than you could do with a perfect record of fighting.
Also, I believe that losses against your defense deck will also give you lp. It will do many of you a world of good to set up a good defense--if you log on and see that your record is 0/7 before you've even fought, it's time to reconsider your defense. I would suggest (for beginners) a defense deck consisting of Thaddius as commander, and 10 irradiated infantry. It works very well against a variety of decks, and may help you to get your lp with little to no effort required on your part. You may also have to adjust your defense deck, depending on who we fight. Remember to always have a defense deck set up on the Arena page! Nothing is more disheartening than losing a battle by 50 points, just to see someone go 0/15 because they left an empty deck as defense...
If anyone has anything they'd like to add, please feel free to do so in the comments section
