Two of the hardest moments in any strategy game: being ahead and not knowing how to finish, and being behind and not knowing how to stop the slide. They are mirror images, and the same ideas cover both.
Why leads get thrown away
A lead is lost in three common ways:
- Waiting. The leading side stops pushing, and a rival with comeback help catches up.
- Overreaching. The leading side attacks everywhere at once and loses its army piece by piece.
- Fighting on bad ground. Chasing into a rival's strong position, because winning felt certain.
Pressing a lead
Keep the advantage moving. A lead you do not use shrinks. Turn your extra army into something permanent: cities, territory, a weaker rival.
Stay concentrated. One big group taking objectives one after another is stronger than several small groups. Let your lead show up as a bigger army in one place.
Pick fights you win clearly. You do not need risky trades when you are ahead. Take the fights where your edge is obvious, and let the rival come to you on your ground if he wants a fight.
Close the game. When the game offers a decisive phase, a moment when objectives fall more easily, be ready to use it with your whole army.
Coming back from behind
Stop the bleeding first. Fall back to positions you can hold. An army preserved is a comeback possible; an army thrown away is a loss.
Make him come to you. Defending on good ground, near your support, costs the attacker more than you. Let him spend his lead attacking.
Use the comeback help. Many games give the losing side something. Know what it is and lean on it.
Look for the one opening. Behind, you cannot win a fair trade, but you can find an unfair one: an overextended group, a thin position, a moment when his army is away.
Hit his economy, not his army. Taking one of his sources of strength hurts him for the rest of the game; trading armies only delays.
In Dot Conquest
Dot Conquest has two rules that shape leads and comebacks, both shown on screen.
The comeback rule. When you are two or more cities behind the leader, your Councils come faster. You get cards sooner, and cards change fights.
So when you are ahead, expect the side behind to get stronger cards sooner; press before they add up. When you are behind, survive to your next Council and make it count. See ruins, mines and the council countdown.
The siege phase. From 6:00 on the battle's clock, cities fall faster and a city with an enemy beside it stops producing. Ahead, that is your moment to finish. Behind, it is your chance: a few quick captures can swing a battle. See the siege phase.
And remember what wins: every city, or 90% of the map. A lead in land can win as surely as a lead in cities.
Where to go next
- The shape of a match: opening, middle and close.
- The late-game rule: the siege phase.