War & Alliance
Formations
Frontline vs. backline, odd vs. even tiers, why Elite War uses 4-1-4, and every formation variation laid out visually.
On this page
Frontline and backline
- Frontline: Infantry (INF) or Cavalry (CAV). Cavalry is more expensive to build, so most free-to-play players lean toward Infantry.
- Backline: Mages (MAG) or Archers (ARCH).
You need both. Without a frontline to protect them, your troops just die and your backline never gets a chance to do damage.
When you attack, the defender is using defense stats, and they only lose troops if they're over their hospital cap or you use the Slaughter lord skill. As the attacker, you have to protect your own troops. That's where the frontline comes in.
Common formations
Solo march
1-1-1, or 1-1 with no angel. Also 2-1 or 2-2.
Elite War
4-1-4: four frontline groups, angels, four backline groups.
In the screenshots below, the attacker (red) has a 1-1-1 march and the defender (blue) has a 4-1-4.
Odd and even tiers
| Type | Tiers |
|---|---|
| Odd | I, III, V, VII, IX, XI, XIII (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13) |
| Even | II, IV, VI, VIII, X, XII, XIV (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14) |
The blue defender above has about 1K of each frontline type in both an odd and an even tier. T9 is odd and T8 is even.
- When you have both an odd and an even tier of the same troop type, they show up as two groups in battle.
- Two tiers of the same parity, say T6 and T8 of the same type, show up as one group.
- The red attacker's 1-1-1 has only one frontline tier, one angel tier and one backline tier.
Why Elite War uses 4-1-4
- Not everyone in the alliance has the same build. 4-1-4 spreads defense and attack across everyone so you work as a team.
- Different tiers have different skills, which is why having both odd and even tiers matters in team play. For example, the even-tier Orc infantry has Mage Resistance, while the T9/T11 human infantry has Blockade (more HP when defending). Each troop type has its own odd and even skills.
- Having both types gives their extra stat to the whole army.
- Bring enough of each (the guide suggests at least 1,000 to 1,500) so there are still troops of that type left after the first battle.
Lines re-center in battle
This is a 1-1-3 formation. With one archer group gone, the game re-centers that line as the battle plays out.
Formation viewer
Every variation of the full formation. The charts keep each group in the same spot so you can compare them; in game, each line re-centers.
| Formation | What's removed |
|---|---|
| 4-1-4 | Nothing: uses every troop type |
| 4-4 | Angels |
| 3-1-4 | Even-tier Cavalry |
| 3-1-4 | Even-tier Infantry |
| 3-1-4 | Odd-tier Infantry |
| 3-1-4 | Odd-tier Cavalry |
| 4-1-3 | Even-tier Mages |
| 4-1-3 | Even-tier Archers |
| 4-1-3 | Odd-tier Archers |
| 4-1-3 | Odd-tier Mages |
| 2-1-4 | Even-tier Cavalry + Odd-tier Cavalry |
| 2-1-4 | Odd-tier Infantry + Odd-tier Cavalry |
| 2-1-4 | Even-tier Cavalry + Odd-tier Infantry |
| 2-1-4 | Even-tier Infantry + Odd-tier Cavalry |
| 2-1-4 | Even-tier Cavalry + Even-tier Infantry |
| 4-1-2 | Even-tier Mages + Odd-tier Mages |
| 4-1-2 | Even-tier Archers + Odd-tier Archers |
| 4-1-2 | Even-tier Mages + Even-tier Archers |
| 4-1-2 | Odd-tier Archers + Odd-tier Mages |
| 4-1-2 | Even-tier Mages + Odd-tier Archers |
| 4-1-2 | Even-tier Archers + Odd-tier Mages |
Full layout, front to back: Even-tier Cavalry · Even-tier Infantry · Odd-tier Infantry · Odd-tier Cavalry / Angels / Even-tier Mages · Even-tier Archers · Odd-tier Archers · Odd-tier Mages / Elder Titan · Beast.
Team formation (EW)
For Elite War and other team fights:
- 40% of your highest-tier main frontline (Infantry or Cavalry)
- All your angels
- 1,000 each of even-tier and odd-tier Infantry
- 1,000 each of even-tier and odd-tier Cavalry
- 1,000 each of even-tier and odd-tier Mage
- 1,000 each of even-tier and odd-tier Archers
- Fill the rest of your march with your highest-tier mages / archers
Save it as a preset in the Drill Grounds so it's one tap away. See Drill Grounds.