I picked up Total Annihilation: Kingdoms a few months ago, back when it was first released. For the week after I got it, I played a lot. It seemed like a fun game, but not anything more than another RTS set in a fantasy environment. I then quit playing and stacked the game CD on top of all my other old game CD's that I never play anymore. For some reason though, I keep coming back to TA Kingdoms.

Every time I play it seems like a find some new feature that I didn't know about before. I am constantly finding new strategies. I am actually exploring the strengths and weaknesses of each unit. The game engine and graphics are great, but nothing earth shattering. What keeps me coming back are the little things. The attention to detail is what brings a game from a "one week and then trash it" game to the "play it over and over just because its fun" type of game.

The focus of the game is more on combat strategy rather than resource management. Mana is the one resource used for everything. Mana is obtained by building a loadstone on a mana node. After you have 4-5 mana nodes, resources are no longer a problem.

In no way do I consider myself an expert on TA Kingdoms. I still haven't played it multiplayer. I don't know any of the player vs. player strategies, but that was not what I wanted out of the game. The following is an example of my own personal experiences with TA Kingdoms. This is what a typical game consists of...

First I must choose my own race. Aramon is my favorite because of their awesome defensive capabilities. Taros is probably my second favorite because of the evil nature of them. My favorite scenarios are on HUGE maps against many many computer-controlled opponents. Unlike Starcraft, multiple opponents actually fight each other instead of teaming up on you.

I start the scenario with my one lone leader unit, the Monarch. The Monarchs have some limited building capabilities and very good fighting capabilities against both flying and ground units. After finding a few mana nodes and building a loadstone on them, its time to start building structures and units. I start with a simple barracks. This can create more powerful builder units and that is generally all I use it for. After I create a few Mage Builders (Aramon builder unit), I start to build up some defenses. Most scenarios start in the middle of a castle, so making it defensible is generally not a problem.

Starting out:

I start to build cannon towers in strategic locations around my castle. It is at about this time I start seeing a few units from my opponents. If I'm lucky, I'll have a few cannon towers done. My builder units are very vulnerable, but my Monarch can usually fend off these initial scouting parties. After my defenses are in place, it will take a large force to do me any harm. It is then that I start to build better combat units to fill out the defenses of my castle and to build an offensive force.

Building defenses:

I usually flesh out my defenses with an archer or two near each cannon tower. I also usually build a couple trebuchets (large immobile catapults). These trebuchets have an incredibly long range and are excellent for taking out enemy structures and stationary units. If needed, I will build walls to bottleneck enemy ground units. Usually by this time there is a steady stream of opposing units that seem determined to impale themselves on my almost impenetrable defenses. Next I start to form an offensive force.

Preparing to strike:

Gaining ground can be very difficult. I usually start by finding a clear safe spot to gather my units. I then build up a group of 15-20 units. In this group I include three main types. Heavy infantry (Titans or warriors), light to medium artillery (archers and cannons), and builder units. If I have the time, I will include a priest or two for healing and area damage. While I'm building up, I'll usually send out a few birds on reconnaissance to find out where the enemy is strongest.

Supply route and advancing:

At this point I usually make a decision depending on the size of my opponent. If they are very large and spread out I will try to split them in two and then wipe out the weaker half. If they are concentrated, I will march right up to the front gates of their castle and set up for a siege. Either way, it will always be a fight getting there.

Dividing a large force:

If I am dividing a large force, I will build a large defensible line right through the middle of enemy territory. My mobile forces are used mainly as a guard for my builder units while they build walls and cannon towers. I purposely leave small, fortified openings in these walls to bottleneck opposing forces and so that I can get my own forces through. It is these openings that will see the most action. It is not uncommon for them to be nearly completely destroyed numerous times before they are strong enough to hold. After the wedge is in place, destroying the weaker enemy force is not a problem unless they are in a castle of their own. As long as you control the wall, refreshing your main force with new units should not be a problem.

Laying siege to an opponents castle:

Laying siege to a castle without taking huge losses can get tricky. The best I can hope for is that my opponent will have no long-range artillery of their own. If they do have any long-range artillery, that must be my first target. Taking out a target like that usually requires huge losses or a dragon. If I cannot take it out, my siege is usually slow and painful. I start by finding the main entrance and build a little stronghold of my own right there. If I can build a couple cannon towers and keep them, then I am entrenched enough that it’s really just a matter of time before they fall. After I feel comfortable with my position, I will build a few trebuchets. After they are built, all I need to do is locate the opponents structures and let the trebuchets pound away. Locating these enemy structures usually requires a few suicide runs into the middle of their castle. Slowly, but surely, I can beat down all of their structures until I can just rush in and clean up any extra units they may have left.

Keeping your ground:

By this point I have defeated one of my opponents. Since I can possibly be fighting up to 7, this is still just the beginning. The whole time I was focusing on my offensive, my own castle was probable being hammered too. Luckily, the computer AI isn't really smart enough to lay an effective siege against me, so any losses I may have taken are at the cost of many dozens of their own.

Eventually, the ground I control will be huge. I will have reached my unit limit and I will have to sacrifice defenses in the back of my territory so I can focus on an offensive. This can get tricky when fighting multiple opponents. Usually having a front line that is a big defended wall with just a few bottlenecks is the key. Eventually, I learn what parts of your wall they attack and I can just fortify those sections. Enough cannons, archers, and cannon towers can stop almost any opposing force.

Expanding my strategies:

The standard Aramon battle tactics can be very effective, but Aramon is inherently weak when it comes to flying. Adding the capabilities of opposing races can make things much more interesting. My monarch has two very special abilities. He can raise the dead, and he can turn stone creatures back to life and make them serve him. My priests have the ability to turn my opponent's units to stone. If I can manage to get the builder unit of an opponent, I can then create any unit they can create. Taros has the best flyers with their dragon riders. Zhon has the best mobile heavy artillery with their stone giants.

One nice feature of the game is that it tracks how many kills a unit has. As the unit gains more kills, its skills and appearance actually change. I have actually had stone giants with well over 100 kills. With that many kills they rarely miss.

My favorite outpost would consist of three races. First I would build the Aramon cannon tower. These towers are very tough, but they heal very slowly. The Zhon have a sacred fire that makes all units around it regenerate at an accelerated rate. I would put a sacred fire behind the castle. On the other side of the fire, I would build an Aramon Trebuchet. Neither the trebuchet nor the sacred fire can take many hits, so I would encase both in a wall to keep ground units off of them. The trebuchet has an incredible range, but it can only see so far. Flying units have a very large scouting radius. If I set a couple Taros dragon riders to guard the tower, they will spot any opposing units so the trebuchet can start to hit them from a very long range. A five-unit outpost such as this can readily handle an attack of dozens of opposing units.

A huge scenario such as this can easily take over 7 hours to complete. Each section of the map then has its own story of the battles that happened there. Most of the strategies I mentioned only apply to Aramon too. Considering that there are 3 other races, the game has a huge amount of variety. I would recommend this game to anyone that is a fan of strategy games and especially those that are also a fan of fantasy games.