Roles in Travian MM
Roles
Every player in an alliance assumes a particular role within the group. First, since I get asked this from time to time, Hammer and anvil are standard military jargon. A hammer is a force designed to "strike". An anvil is a force designed to "break a hammer". "Feeder" can refer to a villa built to push resources to other villa or can refer to a player's role in providing (pushing) some extra resources to a major Hammer or Anvil being built by another player.
Every player needs to build some offense and some defense, and will sometimes "push" another player. Your "role" is one of focus.
Hammers
Every one needs some offense for raiding. Even if with a lack of nearby farms, you can bring in some extra R's raiding oasis. (If you follow the alliance attack logs, you will see I currently am bringing in over 30k a week raiding oasis near my cluster in the boonies. This is also how I am leveling up my hero, by killing rats and bats. Ignominious, but effective.) All your offensive troops are built in a single villa referred to as your hammer. This villa should be adjacent to your cropper.
Hammers
Large hammers, sometimes called "end game hammers". These are the monsters of the game. They are for experienced players with large accounts. They are used to take artifacts, attack the Wonders in the end game, and otherwise wreak major damage on the enemy. By the end game, they can be over 300k (in wheat per hour consumption) in size. That is enough to empty an 80k granary in 16 minutes. They take a lot of dedication to build and to keep fed while moving.
Ghost hammer is a specialized large hammer composed entirely of Gaul TT's with a 20 level Tournament Square. This is the faster moving force in the game. For experienced players only. I will not go into more about them here.
Ram hammer is another specialized end game hammer I won't go into detail about.
Scout hammers are another specialized hammer. Every alliance should have one or two of these. They are appropriate for mid-level, mid-sized players, or better. By building massive numbers of scouts, scouting reports can be obtained without the scouted player being aware. Check with leadership before building one of these, as only a few are needed.
Small hammer or what I call a "working hammer" can be developed by anyone. They only need to have 20 to 30k (in Wheat) troops, plus 400 to 600 rams and about 1800 cats with escorts. They are used to 0 pop a villa in one 20 wave attack. Smaller players can combine their efforts to form one working hammer by timing their attacks to land simultaneously. They generally hit "soft" targets in combined ops. This means they usually meet little defense, making them useable over and over. Zero popping a villa is very gratifying and highly recommended.
Anvils
Anvils are appropriate for any level of size or experience. They are built in multiple villa, negating the need to use Great Barracks or Great Stables. Anvil players should be logging in often to answer any call for reins (reinforcements). They provide the defense for any player under serious attack. They respond to defensive coordinators as to where and when we choose to defend. Super important to the group, as the game frequently turns on defense. While on the subject, Every player should plan their empire with one out of every five or six villa built to provide single wheat, 20 level defenders (Phalanx, Spearman, or Praetorian, depending on tribe) to the World Wonder during the end game. This means a 20 level Barracks, 20 level Armory, and at least a 10 level Tournament Square. The hammer villa can be one of these by building the armory, leveling up the defending unit, then tearing down the armory to make space for another granary. Then, when the hammer is spent, the villa is ready to make defenders.
Feeders
A very important though generally under rated role. A Feeder pushes an hours worth of R's to a large hammer or (sometimes) anvil everyday. This makes a huge difference is the size of the hammer when it launches against a Wonder at the end of the game. A way to "own" a piece of a major hammer without having to manage one. The hammers success is also the feeders success. A dedicated Feeder may push an hours worth (the game limit) to up to five different players, while building very few troops of their own. A hybrid feeder may be pushing one to three players daily. An excellent variation on the feeder role especially well suited to slower building accounts, is to settle a cropper near a hammer and provide "parking" for the the hammer troops. Feeding those troops frees up resources to build more. Parking a thousand troops in another cropper is the equivalent of being given another 24k R's per day.
Hybrid
A hybrid player assumes a combination of two of the above roles. Most commonly anvil/feeder or anvil/working hammer. It is common for a hybrid player to attach themselves to a major hammer and work in cooperation with them. Anvil/working hammer hybrid accounts are excellent choices for newer but very active players. Anvil/feeder may be the best choice for less active players new to the game.
Give serious thought before choosing a role. No matter what your choice, your teammates will be depending on you to do your part.
Please let me know what role you will be playing.
Thanks
L.T.
Roles
Every player in an alliance assumes a particular role within the group. First, since I get asked this from time to time, Hammer and anvil are standard military jargon. A hammer is a force designed to "strike". An anvil is a force designed to "break a hammer". "Feeder" can refer to a villa built to push resources to other villa or can refer to a player's role in providing (pushing) some extra resources to a major Hammer or Anvil being built by another player.
Every player needs to build some offense and some defense, and will sometimes "push" another player. Your "role" is one of focus.
Hammers
Every one needs some offense for raiding. Even if with a lack of nearby farms, you can bring in some extra R's raiding oasis. (If you follow the alliance attack logs, you will see I currently am bringing in over 30k a week raiding oasis near my cluster in the boonies. This is also how I am leveling up my hero, by killing rats and bats. Ignominious, but effective.) All your offensive troops are built in a single villa referred to as your hammer. This villa should be adjacent to your cropper.
Hammers
Large hammers, sometimes called "end game hammers". These are the monsters of the game. They are for experienced players with large accounts. They are used to take artifacts, attack the Wonders in the end game, and otherwise wreak major damage on the enemy. By the end game, they can be over 300k (in wheat per hour consumption) in size. That is enough to empty an 80k granary in 16 minutes. They take a lot of dedication to build and to keep fed while moving.
Ghost hammer is a specialized large hammer composed entirely of Gaul TT's with a 20 level Tournament Square. This is the faster moving force in the game. For experienced players only. I will not go into more about them here.
Ram hammer is another specialized end game hammer I won't go into detail about.
Scout hammers are another specialized hammer. Every alliance should have one or two of these. They are appropriate for mid-level, mid-sized players, or better. By building massive numbers of scouts, scouting reports can be obtained without the scouted player being aware. Check with leadership before building one of these, as only a few are needed.
Small hammer or what I call a "working hammer" can be developed by anyone. They only need to have 20 to 30k (in Wheat) troops, plus 400 to 600 rams and about 1800 cats with escorts. They are used to 0 pop a villa in one 20 wave attack. Smaller players can combine their efforts to form one working hammer by timing their attacks to land simultaneously. They generally hit "soft" targets in combined ops. This means they usually meet little defense, making them useable over and over. Zero popping a villa is very gratifying and highly recommended.
Anvils
Anvils are appropriate for any level of size or experience. They are built in multiple villa, negating the need to use Great Barracks or Great Stables. Anvil players should be logging in often to answer any call for reins (reinforcements). They provide the defense for any player under serious attack. They respond to defensive coordinators as to where and when we choose to defend. Super important to the group, as the game frequently turns on defense. While on the subject, Every player should plan their empire with one out of every five or six villa built to provide single wheat, 20 level defenders (Phalanx, Spearman, or Praetorian, depending on tribe) to the World Wonder during the end game. This means a 20 level Barracks, 20 level Armory, and at least a 10 level Tournament Square. The hammer villa can be one of these by building the armory, leveling up the defending unit, then tearing down the armory to make space for another granary. Then, when the hammer is spent, the villa is ready to make defenders.
Feeders
A very important though generally under rated role. A Feeder pushes an hours worth of R's to a large hammer or (sometimes) anvil everyday. This makes a huge difference is the size of the hammer when it launches against a Wonder at the end of the game. A way to "own" a piece of a major hammer without having to manage one. The hammers success is also the feeders success. A dedicated Feeder may push an hours worth (the game limit) to up to five different players, while building very few troops of their own. A hybrid feeder may be pushing one to three players daily. An excellent variation on the feeder role especially well suited to slower building accounts, is to settle a cropper near a hammer and provide "parking" for the the hammer troops. Feeding those troops frees up resources to build more. Parking a thousand troops in another cropper is the equivalent of being given another 24k R's per day.
Hybrid
A hybrid player assumes a combination of two of the above roles. Most commonly anvil/feeder or anvil/working hammer. It is common for a hybrid player to attach themselves to a major hammer and work in cooperation with them. Anvil/working hammer hybrid accounts are excellent choices for newer but very active players. Anvil/feeder may be the best choice for less active players new to the game.
Give serious thought before choosing a role. No matter what your choice, your teammates will be depending on you to do your part.
Please let me know what role you will be playing.
Thanks
L.T.
