Grepolis: Commander of Rome

Every three months or so the Grepolis MMO makes a special game-within-a-game available to players and, suffice it to say, there is every reason to play them and very few not to. Soon after I started playing Grepolis about a year ago, I encountered the first of these games, which was called the "The Thracian War" and, as I was still sorting out how to play the game at that point and had no idea what this diversion was good for, I decided not to mess with it. I have played every one of these special events since, however, and strongly recommend players of the game to do so if they are not already. 

Every three months or so the Grepolis MMO makes a special game-within-a-game available to players and, suffice it to say, there is every reason to play them and very few not to. Soon after I started playing Grepolis about a year ago, I encountered the first of these games, which was called the "The Thracian War" and, as I was still sorting out how to play the game at that point and had no idea what this diversion was good for, I decided not to mess with it. I have played every one of these special events since, however, and strongly recommend players of the game to do so if they are not already. 

Initially, my concern with these special add-on games is that they might lead to me depleting resources I was counting on to build up and secure my fledgling empire. These games essentially exist outside of the action of the various Grepolis worlds and, while they do not require players to devote any resources associated with the primary game, can provide very valuable rewards that can be used in it. These include both rewards that can be obtained in the course of the regular game and exclusive ones that can only be obtained in such special events -- providing the main incentive for participating in them. 

Currently, I am playing in an 18-day event that started in mid-June called "Commander of Rome." It involves incrementally building up an army consisting of five types of soldier -- Hastati, Legionarii, Sagittarii, Alarii, and Vexillarii -- and using it to defeat enemy forces in 33 encounter areas that can be attacked sequentially on a path that splits at a number of points and allows players to attack a fortified down from four different directions. Each time victory is achieved in an encounter area a reward is obtained and can thereafter be used placed in inventory or used immediately in the real game -- and encounter area 33 has three especially valuable awards associated with it. 

Following are some tips players can use to get the most out of the "Commander of Rome" sub-game and others within Grepolis like it: 

* Artillery can be used every 12 hours to increase your soldier's strength by 20%. Because the benefit it provides is a function of the strength of the your attacking force, try to use it only in encounters when your army is at full strength, rather than after it has taken casualties. 

* Don't skip any of the encounter areas, even if the rewards associated with them do not look particularly compelling. Reason for this is that achieving victory in some of them will result in one of your troop types being more powerful for the rest of the special event (e.g., after winning at Battleground 21: Fortress -- Eastern Gate, "Your brave Legionarii get a +2 bonus on their combat power "). 

* Keep playing until the end of the event even after you have overcome all the encounter areas! After being defeated, each of them can be attacked again after an interval for them to be restocked with troops, and the same reward can thus be obtained again. And, because later in the game you will have more troops and they will be powered up with the afore-mentioned numerical bonuses, you will take these objectives more more easily and quickly than you did intially. 

* When re-conquering encounter areas, go after ones that have exclusive rewards you can't find anywhere else associated with them. Obviously, the jewel of this game is the three-reward encounter area that includes the new hero Apheledes, the Land Expansion power up, and the ability to advance one full Cultural Level. Once it has been conquered, however, only Land Expansion can be gained from subsequent attacks, even though the site has just as many enemy troops guarding it, so it is probably a better use of resources to set your sites elsewhere. For my money that is adjacent Battleground 28: Scriptorium, where the reward is the excellent, exclusive power up Luxury Residence, which can allow your heroes to inexorably advance in level and increases their combat power.