Guide: Town Defence

Introduction
Having defence in your town is the one thing stopping other players marching in and emptying your warehouse while your off line. It may seem rather simple to some people but I still frequently see active players with no defence.

That said, I hope that none of the alliance members somehow think that is a wise idea, so this guide is aimed at ensuring the best possible defence rather then simply telling you that you need it.

The Best Defence
Ikariam contains eight unique troops. Although I could complain about the variations and speciality of them there is of course one clear winner when it comes to defence. This troop should be a well know type beyond that of Ikariam and its defensive powerless should also be as well know.

[size=150]The Phalanx[/size] is the key to defence!

It is easilly the best value for money, in terms of resources needed to train one and the upkeep to keep one. They are of course out done by the attack value of higher up troops but the answer is simply to have more of them!

Why The Phalanx
The Phalanx and the defensive powers that it has is one reason I like Ikariam so much. It may not be realistic on many fronts, but the Phalanx being the key to defence is one area that it is true to reality.

The Phalanx has a base defence of 40. Along with a speciality bonus of Resistance, giving a further 30%. That is a minimum of 52. (That is higher the the maximum defence of any troop lower, Slinger, Swordsman and the Phalanx itself)

The upgrades for a Phalanx increase its defence by 10; assuming the 30% bonus adds on top of that, the maximum defence value of a Phalanx is an impressive [size=150]91[/size].

That is, again more then everything below and now includes the Archer.

What About Better Defence
Those of you that have looked into the defence values of units will know that the Gunman has a higher maximum defence, along with any unit above it. While this is true, take into account the upkeep cost and resource cost of a Gunman compared to a Phalanx and you will see the Phalanx is still better.

One fully upgraded Gunman provides 106 Defence, costing 58 Gold per hour and 691 Resources (see footnote on resource costs).

Two fully upgraded Phalanx provides 182 Defence, costing 48 Gold per hour and 496 Resources.

The only negative difference is the extra citizen that is used, even taking that as a further 4 Gold for 2 hours (at a really low population growth rate) still means the two Phalanx are better value.

So How Many
It's not easy to define a total amount of Phalanx you should use in defence of your towns. However I can recommend some numbers based on what I have at this time.

* Have a minimum of 5; no matter the size of the town.[/*]
* Have 1 Phalanx per Town Level[/*]
* Have 50% more in your capital[/*]



Remember, if someone is attacking the chances of them attacking your capital is significantly more then that of any other of your towns. Always have more defence there.

Town Wall
Remember, a 100% or more defence bonus should not be overlooked!

Beyond The Phalanx
It is true that the Phalanx although very good for defence does become obsolete eventually. The Steamgients do provide better value for money in defensive values. That said, even with high level Academies the time it would take to get from Phalanx to Steamgients is near on two months of research. Waiting would take forever!


Footnote:
Resource cost are calculated as 1 * wood value plus 2 * luxury value. This is the same way as the Generals score is calculated.


This guide was taken from the ikariam boards, credit goes to immortalnights