Action leagues - description

Why there are action leagues?

Action leagues were created, because many players prefer action over strategy, and they didn't want to wait for recalculation until midnight. They wanted more action, more fighting, and that means recalculation several times a day.
Also, it is sometimes boring for a newbie to wait until the next day to see results of attacks and spells. They want to see it quicker, immediately if possible.
And that is the purpose of action leagues, where recalculation happens every 15 minutes. You have very little time to think about your moves, you have to play more or less intuitively, but you see the results of your actions and receive new turns every 15 minutes.


Action league speed modifier

Every action league has a speed modifier, for example 1x, higher leagues 4x.
Speed modifier decides, how many turns will a player recieve every 15 minutes:
  • speed 1x: +1 turn (= 1/8 of standard daily amount)
  • speed 4x: +4 turns (= 1/2 of standard daily amount)
Caution! The number 1 or 4 is correct for a race with average number of turns per day (Men, Necromancers). Other races will receive accordingly less or more turns (you can receive a fraction of a turn in action leagues, but you can only play full turns) See Races overview for further information about races and their number of turns.

When are the results calculated?

Recalculation is every 15 minutes, at 00:00, 00:15, 00:30, 00:45 and so on.
To give players some time to eat and sleep, actions leagues have playing time of only a few hours every day. What time it is depends on league. During the rest of the day, players can connect to the game and think about their next steps, even play turns, but there are no recalculations - spells and attacks will be evaluated again when playing time starts.

How to play action league?

Find a league that is just starting (green letters), and check playing time. Is it OK for you? Great! Now you have to register into league. As soon as you enter the league, check time on the top bar - when is the next recalculation? Build a granary and continue as necessary based on the race you are playing (see "Guide to races" in Newbies section of the help). Just remember that your attack will not be as strong as in normal league, because of lowered efficiency of newly recruited units. Every race can send at least one attack on the "Day 0" (i.e. before first recalculation).

Why should I play action leagues? What is the difference in gameplay?

  • new style of playing, forget old stereotypes and enjoy a new twist!
  • league is finished in 3 to 5 days
  • attacks and spells are evaluated quickly
  • new turns every 15 minutes
  • every army has combat efficiency - allow some rest to your armies, they will fight better!
  • newly recruited soldiers have combat efficiency only 30%, but it increases every 15 minutes
  • hobbits and other races with strong economy are weaker, because they can't use the "disband - play turns - recruit" tactic very well
  • magic is weaker, not as important as in standard leagues - no one can have enough mana to cast spells every 15 minutes
  • economy influencing spells last over several recalculations, but their effect is decreasing with each recalculation
  • more action, in a few minutes you capture a land and you can go on...
  • hero can gain more experience per day than in standard leagues
  • number crunchers have little time for their calculations, intuitive estimation is of greater importance
  • quick decisions help a lot. Didn't you fare well in standard leagues? Try an action league!

What are the drawbacks?

  • you need more time - although that doesn't mean you have to play every 15 minutes, you won't lose the turns
  • there is no time for precise calculations, before you finish it, the situation can be different
  • it is harder to communicate with alliance colleagues
  • races based on magic or economy are weaker
  • greater risk of losing your hero

What are the main differences from standard leagues?

Recalculation every 15 minutes

Attacks and spells are processed every 15 minutes (at 00:00, 00:15, 00:30, 00:45), without the need to log off as in standard leagues. Your infobar shows minutes remaining until next recalculation. It can happen that you still see your attack in army window and think it can be cancelled, but in fact it was already processed - you need to refresh the page after recalculation ends.

Combat efficiency

All newly recruited soldiers are rookies and have combat efficiency 30%, that means their attack and defense is only 30% of what is shown in their stats. Combat efficiency rises with every recalculation. Players should think twice before disbanding any units, and recruit them in advance, not immediately before attack.

When combat efficiency grows and drops?

Maximum combat efficiency is 100%. Army that is defending a land is considered resting and training, so their combat efficiency grows with each recalculation (by 4% or 20%, depending on league speed) if it is below 100%. Combat efficiency drops during recalculation when soldiers were moving into another land, depending on type of atack:
  • conquer - combat efficiency drops by 50%
  • move army - combat efficiency drops by 30%
  • pillage - combat efficiency drops by 20%
  • ransack - combat efficiency drops by 10%
If you have army at high combat efficiency and recruit some rookies (they come at 30%), combat efficiency of the entire army drops! Think well before you recruit.

Economical spells

Economical spells last for several recalculations instead of just one (as in standard leagues), but their effects gradually decrease. With each recalculation, the value of respective parameter changes by 20% in the direction of standard, i.e. towards 100%.
Example: You cast Content on a land, which increases natality to 200%. After next recalculation, natality is 180% and so on until it comes back to 100% again.
Enemy casts Discontent on your land, which decreases natality to 50%. After 3 recalculations, natality is back to normal.
So the spells last longer than from one recalculation to another, but on the other hand you can lower their effects by casting the opposite spell on the same land immediately. This lowers the importance of magic and increases importance of military prowess.

Treaties and their validity

Treaties work the same as in standard leagues, they become valid immediately (if it is first treaty for both lands) or after next recalculation. So, if you declare war, it will be valid latest in 15 minutes!

Weather changes

Weather does not change with each recalculation. Depending on speed of the league, it changes after 2 or 8 recalculations.

Strength of unoccupied lands

Starting strength of unoccupied lands is lowered to 40 (52 in standard league), and it grows much slower than in standard leagues in terms of number of recalculations. Of course if you just look at time, it grows quicker, but then it has to, because most action leagues end within 3-5 days.

How are action leagues named?

Names of all action leagues end with lowercase character "a" at the end of their name (1a, 2Aa, 2Ba, 3Aa etc.)