In the sequence of my Guide to convert a Rookie/Newbie into an Inter Player, I focused on how to Rush and how to gain the upper hand.

However, it will soon be a waste if you don't CAPITALIZE ON THE GAINS. If you sit down and just ignore him after you put him in misery in T2, what follows is that many times he will be able to come back.

Well, that's something you certainly don't want!

Here is the frame:

You are well into T3 and he is T2.
Both of you are T3 and he is taking some defense precautions.

In the first case, just drop a few pummels and game over (with or without more units, depending whether he has Grenadiers / Padawans / Mounties or not). Won't be hard!

The most common case involves an opponent that is already T3 so let's look at things in detail.

The Pummel Drop: When and How to use it

This is the utmost finishing move in T3 and the least well done in the Zone. Armaggedon likes to "Pummel-flood" a neighbor, but that's not a Pummel Drop, LOL! It's another special kind of finishing move...

Technically a Pummel Drop is when you transport a number of pummels and acccompanying Troops into the center of an enemy town and proceed to raze it from the inside.

This part is about when, why and how well you can do it.

Let's suppose that you probed the guy in T3 with Strikes and Fighters and found his town a bit fortified (like Turrets or even a Fortress.
That's good news for you, because all that Ore could not have gone to military

On another note, suppose you got to kill a lot of Workers before, now you know he is short of a lot of stuff. Meaning that he may have at most another CC (or he is still in T2...).

You MUST find what military units he has around for defense. This is critical for you, you MUST take protective units there according to what he has.

Many Turrets? Take Mounties with the Pummels.
Many Troopers? Take the old faithful Strikes.
Many Grenadiers? Take Troopers or Mounties.
Padawans / Apprentices? Take Troopers or Mounties.
Mounties? Take Many Troopers and/or Strikes.
Defensive Fighters/Bombers? Take many AA troopers OR 1/2 that number in AA Mobiles (but some troopers too).
Does he have Mech destroyers? (Improbable, but...) Take Mounties and Troopers.
Does he have Strikes? In this case take Mech Destroyers.

If you see no troops / Jedi / MD / Mounties / Air in the enemy town, then by no means delay it, throw in 5 pummels without any ceremony and be over with it!....
He deserves what's coming and you just scored a quick win

Now that you know HOW to protect your Pummels, do not plan to send less than 5 (more if he has many mounties/MD/Jedi) and regulate the number of protective troops according to what you see there.

WHAT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF A PUMMEL DROP?...

No, it is not just to destroy the CC (UNLESS he is still in Tech 2, LOL!). If he is in Tech 2, then you can consider a Pummel drop like a finishing move.

But, most of the time, a Pummel Drop is a bold move and a high commitment of resources. When you invest in a Pummel Drop you are actually saying: "OK, I decided to postpone Tech 4 and instead invest in destroying the enemy so that he will not be a threat anymore or at least for a long time".
Such a commitment is so risky that it demands that you plan well. Do not hesitate to abandon it if you see that it will take too long to put in place.

So, make enough transports, pummels (I reccommend at least 10) and Troops (maybe 15-20 or more) in order to give them STAYING power. You want to be able to destroy most economic and military buildings ASAP and asc a minimum. In detail, you priorities are: 1) CC as many as found. 2) Fortress 3) Power Cores (yes, as the first priorities) 4) Military buildings 5) Turrets.
After this, his town will not have any more value for your opponent, if you did things right.

The 2nd. Objective of a Pummel drop is to reap the remaining of his Nova and Ore mines, whatever is left there.

The 3rd. objective is to gain and retain ground. You get more liberty for you and you make him be restrained, sometimes being a burden on his teamates. You get both tactical and psychological advantage

In the process, your troops that were sent there to defend the pummels can start hacking at his workers. That's the bonus

Other people may try and eventually suceed with "anemic" pummel drops. But they will always be a bigger spending than the damage caused.

My advice is to engage in a pummel drop only as a terminating or incapacitating blow.

You can see that having a few (like 10) mounties parked near your main buildings, as well as a few Strikes and MD can give ou a peaceful life (these troops will rip apart even a powerful drop). Later you can use them to attack, but if you are behind, this is a great insurance. That and walls around your power cores!

[This message has been edited by Paralyticus (edited 08-27-2002 @ 10:31 AM).]