BattleMaster Basics
This is the Basics page: the rock-bottom need-to-know stuff for your first turn playing BattleMaster, for the impatient player who just wants to get started. To get the absolute best use out of this page, open it in a separate browser window, and open the game in another window, so that you can switch back and forth.
Contents
Creating a character
- Create an Account
- Create a Character
- Select an Island, and a realm.
- Beginner players usually go for Atamara. Beyond that, look through the realm summaries to see if one appeals to you. A few tips:
- Don't choose a realm without a realm summary -- they don't have their act together
- Don't choose a realm without a ruler (it's likely to be chaotic for a few days)
- If you find a realm that you really like with a strong flavor, feel free to back up a few steps and rename your character to better fit that realm
For your first character, either infantry or archers are fine.
Now, for your first turn, certain things are likely to come up:
How to Send a Message
BattleMaster is a social game, and people who join a realm but do not speak or ask questions or join in the conversation are likely to be viewed with mistrust. When you joined the realm, everyone got a message letting them know that you're here and you're new: now they'll expect to hear something from you. Let's say hello, and introduce your character.
To do this: Go to your Messages page, via the sidebar. There are lots of options. There is an option to message just the ruler, just the general, etc. The one you want is near the bottom: "all players of your realm". Select it and hit 'continue'.
Let's send an in-character message. Go to the Message Type pull-down box, and select Roleplay. Then type your message. Here are some examples, for a character named Armand, joining Keplerstan. There are lots of styles, and feel free to make use of the limited HTML markup (allowed commands are listed below the message box, under "Syntax Help".)
Sample Introductory Messages
- Hello, everyone! My name is Armand, and I've come to join your great realm. I am new, and not sure what to do. Where should I go?
- Greetings, fellow troop leaders! I am Armand Broadsword, and I have decided to become a soldier and make my fortunes.
- I will serve this realm to the best of my ability. Show me the ropes, and you'll soon find that I'm the best thing that's ever happened to Keplerstan.
- A dark figure on horseback crosses the border into Keplerstan, at the head of a small group of armed men, all in uniform and carrying an unfamiliar standard. They travel all night before finally stopping at a local inn.
- "Where am I?" the dark figure asks the innkeeper.
- "Keplerstan, sir!"
- The dark figure looks around and nods. "Good. This realm should do nicely. I think I'll stick around. Send a message to your King, and tell him that Armand Broadsword has arrived, and pledges his loyalty."
Reading Old Messages
If you want to double-check messages that you've received, or you think that you may have forgotten one, go back to the Messages back and look at the very bottom. There's a link there entitled, "Read news and messages sent to you". This will lead you to a page with all your unread messages (if any) and links to read past messages:
- read all news -- the last week's worth of messages
- read everything from today -- everything from 0:00 server time until the present
- read everything from yesterday onward -- everything from 0:00 server time yesterday, until the present
Note that you will only ever see messages that arrived while you were a member of that realm. Any important messages to the realm that went out before you joined (such as orders, or an explanation of the realm's plans), someone will have to copy and send to you.
How Hours Work
Time in Battlemaster is divided into turns. Two turns run per day, at 6am and 6pm, server time (The server resides in Germany) Each turn, you will get eight hours to spend. You may spend them at any time during the turn, but if you do not spend them, up to four hours carry over to the next turn. You will never have more than 12 hours to spend in a turn.
Most actions cause you to immediately spend hours from your total. Once you have spent all your hours, you must wait until the next turn to get eight more. You will usually not spend all of your hours every turn, especially when travelling.
Free Actions
Some actions can be done without spending any hours at all. These include:
- Sending messages
- All the functions under Paperwork and Information
and a few others which are unimportant for the moment.
How to Move to Another Region
In order to set travel to an adjacent region, go to the Travel link on the sidebar. There will be a list of links for all the regions you can travel to, the distance to that region, and an estimate of how long it will take. For example:
- Neighbouring Regions
- travel to...
- Brahe (Keplerstan) 71 miles, ca. 7 hours
The distance will always be the same for a given two regions, but the estimated time will change depending on the type of unit you're commanding, how many men you have, how many of them are wounded, and what kind of paraphernalia you're hauling around.
The hours will not be subtracted immediately, because travel takes place at the turn. If you left enough hours unused, then you will arrive in the region, and get a message like:
- Arrival (just in)
- You have arrived in Brahe, a City region (friendly territory).
And you and your unit will be in the destination region. Sometimes it will take multiple turns to travel between two regions, in which case you will spend one or more turns in between regions -- you'll be listed among the region's occupants, but you will not be able to take advantage of everything the region has to offer, such as banking and entertainment. You will also not be as free to scout when you are between regions.
Also note: Even if you have enough hours, you can never travel through more than one region per turn.
How to Find the Bulletins
The four main government positions (Ruler, General, Banker, and Judge) each have a bulletin page, which are linked to separately under Information. It is a very good idea to read these when you first join a realm, to learn the realm's laws, the current military situation, and other useful information.
How to Change Unit Settings
Unit settings are kept on the Paperwork page. There are four options, of which three are important here:
- How your men are instructed to act
- What row they're on
- What formation they're in
Usually, a general or marshal will give unit settings to a group of people, either in a message, in Standing Orders, or in the General's Bulletin. Keep an eye out for orders for your particular unit type. They might be given in the following format:
Infantry: middle, aggressive, box
This means that you should instruct your men to act aggressive, to deploy in the middle, in the box formation. Sometimes they will be lazy and say "row 1" or "row 2" instead of "front" or "middle".
There are many issues involved with unit settings, but this should suffice for now.
And That's It!
Well, not really. BattleMaster is a huge game, and there's lots to learn about battles and realms and equipment. You would be well-advised to read our introduction and to browse the Manual.
You may not receive orders or even get a response your first turn, particularly if you join the realm late in the turn. Look around and see if there's anything which obviously ought to be done. If there are troops in the region from another realm, for example, it might be wise to move to an adjacent region. Check and see whether there are paraphernalia you can hire in the region you started out in -- scouts in particular are quite useful. You might also try to mix with the locals, something that only relatively new troop leaders can do.
