PWP: Banking, "No tax, no fees, no interest"

WSNPP – PWP Edition #9: Banking, “No tax, no fees, no interest”

We love and hate our banks. The banks that screw our lives over or use us and then screw our lives over… it’s the nature of banks. SO you play Wesnoth hoping that you will escape the banks but in actual fact you’re still haunted by the banks.

To put it simply, you’re the customer and the bank at the same time. The idea is to save money early game (thus no units, meaning less upkeep) whilst controlling more villages. As you have a low upkeep and high income you obtain a whole bunch of cash… or as we bankers like to say, “Interest”. So by turn 5 or 8 you would have enough gold to recruit around 5 units per turn, on average. This is known as ‘Banking’ and you see it a lot in high end games. Of course banking has its disadvantages and advantages and it is very situational which is why you, yes you, must judge yourself when to save or spend. Sounds simple doesn’t it? But it isn’t as simple as it may seem.

I can’t be stuffed to do a complex example =P You guys don’t need it but here’s a quick and simple one:

Players: 6 villages each, 12 villages total on map

Army size: Player 1 – 7, player 2 – 3 (not including hero or lvl 0 units. Assume all units are lvl 1’s)

Player 1: +6 income, -7 Upkeep, gold return per turn = -1, Total GP = 10

Player 2: +6 income, -3 upkeep, gold return per turn = +3, Total GP = 70

So after 5 turns:

Player 1: total GP = 5

Player 2: total GP = 85

Sooner or later Player 1 will have no money and will start obtaining debt (when total GP < 0) which means that he will not be able to recruit anything or his recruiting will be delayed for several turns unless he losses a few units or obtains more villages.

Player 2 on the other hand has the ability to recruit units and still have money left over allowing him to replace any units that die on the battlefield. Of course realistically Player 1 would probably have either overrun player 2 or stole player 1’s villages but banking has its advantages.

In most strategy games a balance between economy and military power is the key to success however early economy or military power can result in tactical strategies that will win early games or later games. It really depends on your play style, map and your opponent.

There are many counters to banking but it can be categorised into two simple roles… Either kill the enemy/ rush them OR start banking yourself.

WSNPP Main Menu: WSNPP

Edition #10: PWP: 1hp = full hp… say what!?!

Previous Edition #8: PWP: The power of FOG