Mobilising Armies



Mobilising Armies is a members-only real-time strategy minigame in RuneScape released on 8 July 2009. During the minigame, players will use hand-made bows, swords and so on to equip their own armies in 4-player battles.

Pre-release info
It was originally announced in the November 2008 update that Jagex would release it in December. However, in the December 2008 update, they announced that the release of the minigame would be postponed until 2009. Its current status is that it will be released "in the next few weeks", as of the Mobilising Armies Developers' Blog of 26 June 2009 It was eventually released on 8 July 2009 along with a new teleport spell, and the RuneScape website received a Mobilising Armies themed makeover.

Getting There
The Mobilising Armies Command centre is located just west of Oo'glog. The easiest way to get there is by using the Mobilising Armies teleport (Level 10 Magic required). This will teleport you to the entrance.

Other means of travel include:


 * Ring of duelling teleport directly to Mobilising Armies (no requirement)


 * Spirit tree teleport to Mobilising Armies area (after Tree Gnome Village)


 * Charter a ship to Oo'glog (after As a First Resort...)


 * Fly a Gnome glider to Feldip Hills (after One Small Favour)


 * Fairy ring teleport to Feldip Hunter area (after partial completion of Fairytale II - Cure a Queen)

Introduction
To start this game, players need to talk to Junior Cadet Mal who is located near the entrance of the game. Players will then be taken through a tutorial where they will have to attack and defeat the enemy. Upon completing the tutorial, a player can begin the mini-game. However, shortly after the release (3-5 hours) 3 out of the 4 game modes were disabled as many bugs were discovered. (Conflict was left open and Siege, Hoard and Rescue were closed off until Jagex fixed all issues.)

How to Play
Firstly, players will need to recruit mercenary squads. This can be done in the South-Western building. You can only have a maximum of 10 squads. Then, players will need to buy Special Units. This is located in the North-Eastern tent. Players can buy up to five special units, so choose wisely. Now you should be ready to start. Squads and special units are purchased using and in-minigame currency called investment credits. Investment credits are earned by trading in "commodities." A commodity is generally something you might have left over after skilling with fletching, crafting, etc. A full list can be found by talking to the Junior Cadet that gives the tutorial.

Different in-game items have different values. For example, all runes except for body runes(9gp per rune), can be exchanged for 10 investment credits. Therefore, 1,000 Fire Runes would be worth 10,000 investment credits. The rewards for the lowest levels (&lt;100 rank) average about 1gp per reward point. You should get one or more reward points per investment point, so it's a good way to turn junk or unsellable items into sellable items and cash.



Once playing, the tabs will change accordingly, having different purposes.


 * [[File:Mobilising Armies tab - camera1.gif]]Camera


 * [[File:Mobilising Armies tab - squads1.gif]]Squad Command


 * [[File:Mobilising Armies tab - special1.gif]]Special Units


 * [[File:Mobilising Armies tab - mysquads1.gif]]My Squads


 * [[File:Mobilising Armies tab - forfeit1.gif]]Forfeit

Controlling Squads
The player's squads are all near each other when the game starts. Clicking on one of a player's own squads selects that squad, which will move, explore, or attack based on the player's commands. Only the selected squad will do anything, so players should select other squad and give commands to them. The minimap shows the location of the selected squad with a flashing arrow.

Moving
To move a selected squad, players can either click the destination on the minimap and the squad will walk there, or click anywhere on the main screen. If the destination is on another squad on the same team, click the Move button to the side and then click where to go.

Attacking
The selected squad can attack an enemy squad when the player clicks the Attack button to the side and then clicks the enemy. However, a much faster and commonly used way is to simply click on the enemy squad. The squad will attack the enemy until one of them dies.

Although not indicated, the entire battlefield is a multicombat area, allowing more than one squad to pile an enemy. This should be used to your advantage by having all of your squads in combat with an enemy for maximum efficiency.

There is a combat triangle in Mobilising Armies: elves are strong against dwarves, dwarves are strong against goblins, and goblins are strong against elves. Therefore, it is best use your squads to attack the race that is weak to them.

Exploring
Clicking on the Explore button to the side will make the selected squad wander around, exploring to treasure. The treasure may restore health and do other things.

Camera
Since the player himself is not in the game, the camera has no point of focus. There are 2 ways to operate the camera.

With the arrow keys, you can now pan the camera by pressing the arrow keys in the desired direction. To rotate it, hold the Ctrl key on the keyboard and press the left and right arrow keys. To zoom in and out, hold Shift and the press the up key to zoom in and the down key to zoom out.

The other way is by clicking the buttons in the camera tab to the right. It's pretty straightfoward.

Winning
To win the game, the player must defeat the squads of the other 3 players. The winning player will be the player who defeats all the squads or has the most squads at the end of the time limit. If you win, you will increase your ranking by two and if you lose, it will increase by one. However, there are other ways to win depending on the scenario. For example, in the "Hoard" scenario you can win by being the first to gather 100,000 gold or by defeating the other squads.

Investments
To buy troops and Special Units, you have to invest in commodities first. The best way to get lots of investments credits is to trade in useless junk from training skills, such as unstrung bows, Summoning scrolls, or flatpacks from Construction. Junior Cadet Mal can give you a full list of what are accepted as commodities. The maximum Investment Credits is 500,000.

 Recommended Items to purchase Credits 

Squads
Squads are either light or heavy, and either Goblin, Elf, or Dwarf. They have different speeds and hitpoints and represent different sides of the combat triangle.

As a player advances, they can upgrade/promote their squads from level 1 to higher levels.

You can have 10 squads.

Light Squad
Light Squads are faster than their Heavy counterparts, but are a lot weaker in terms of combat.

Heavy Squad
Heavy squads are stronger than the Light Squads, but sacrifice speed for the increased power. Currently, most players choose to use a team filled with mainly Heavy Squads.

Elf Squad
The Elf squads are the Mage class. If you follow the combat triangle, elves are weak against Goblin Ranged Squads but strong against Dwarven Melee Squads. The Light Elf Squad has a combat level of 175 a hitpoints level of 480 and a discipline level of 110 while the Heavy Elf Squad has a combat level of 350 a hitpoints level of 960 and a discipline level of 110. The Light Squad Elves wear lavander robes, and weild different elemental staves. The Heavy squad elves also weild the basic elemental staves but wear a dark blue shaded robe. The Examine info on both squads say "An uncommon sight, mercenary elves are familiar with battle"

Dwarf Squad
In the combat triangle the Dwarf Squad is the melee skill, weak against Elven mage Squads, but strong against Goblin range Squads. The Light Dwarf Squad has a combat level of 175 a hitpoints level of 530 and a discipline level of 60 while the Heavy Dwarf Squad has a combat level of 350 a hitpoints level of 1010 and a discipline level of 60. The Light Squad is garbed in a gray dwarf outfit and wields a silver battleaxe, and the Heavy Squad wears a brown dwarf outfit carrying a black battleaxe with silver blades.

Goblin Squad
In the combat triangle the Goblin Squad is the ranged skill, weak against Dwarf Melee Squads, but strong against Elven Mage Squads. The Light Goblin Squad has a combat level of 225 a hitpoints level of 480 and a discipline level of 60 while the Heavy Goblin Squad has a combat level of 400 a hitpoints level of 960 and a discipline level of 60. The Light Squad wears a grey Goblin mail and wields an Iron Crossbow. The Heavy Squad is equipped in a darker brown goblin mail, but also appears to use an Iron Crossbow

Game Types
Note: Only Conflict is available at the moment due to a "more complex than previously thought" problem.

Conflict
This is the standard scenario for the game, being the first to be played by all, and the "lowest leveled" scenario. Four teams are placed on a battlefield and must kill each other off, one by one. This version is a "free-for-all".

Siege
As defined by Jagex "In this scenario, victory is gained by defeating your opponents or by breaking into the castle that sits at the centre of the map. To break into the castle, you'll need to breach the walls with a squad or with a catapult. To attack the walls with a squad, use the ‘Attack wall/catapult’ command in your Squad Commands tab and then click on the offending wall (you may also attack an opponent's catapult in this way) or simply left-click the wall. To build a catapult, use the ‘Collect’ command in your Squad Commands tab to gather wheels, wood, rope and limbs from the shipwrecks that are strewn across the shore, or simply left-click the shipwreck. Once all of the catapult parts are collected, a catapult will automatically appear. Use the 'Collect' command to gather 4 rocks from the rockpiles around the map and the catapult will fire at the castle automatically, bringing you closer to victory."

Hoard
As defined by Jagex "This scenario is set at a dragon’s volcano, where you must collect 100,000 gold or defeat your opponents to become the victor. Gold can be collected by using the ‘Cave Collect’ command in your Squad Commands tab or by just left-clicking the cave. In order to collect gold from the dragon, you need at least two squads, one collecting at the cave and another to carry the gold from the cave to the boat. You can also steal gold by killing opponents' squads, and it is worth noting that squads collecting gold are more susceptible to damage."

Rescue
As defined by Jagex "This scenario requires you to be the first to save 28 TzHaar from their steaming fissures. This comes with a new command, 'Rescue'. Click this command and then click on a flailing TzHaar to save them from certain doom, or simply left-click on the TzHaar. You may also steal TzHaar from your opposition by clicking on the 'Steal' command and then an enemy's stock, which is by their command tent and lander on the outskirts of the map."

Rewards
Reward comes in the form of ‘reward credits' and increased Ranks. The number of reward credits you receive after a battle is based on the amount you invested before the battle, and how successful you were. These reward credits can be spent or saved up – they do not disappear when you leave the encampment.



Basement(Rank &lt;100)

 * Quest kit (basic)
 * Holds things like tinderboxes, etc.


 * Serjeant's Set (hat, shirt, legs/skirt, gloves, boots)
 * This set gives no stat bonuses.
 * An option to enchant a gold ring to become a gold ring (i). (This gives a stat bonus)


 * Gold ring (i)


 * Inferior locator (Teleport to resources eg: mining spot, trees, etc...)
 * Has 50 charges before needing to recharge
 * Allows you to teleport to a Copper, Tin, Iron mine. Fish spot #1 (basic fish), Herblore supplies 1 and an oak/willow forest!
 * Higher level Resource Locators allow you to teleport to higher level trees, fishing spots, ores, etc.



To exchange reward credits, visit the Officer’s Tower in the south-east of the encampment. To begin with, you’ll only be able to access the basement floor, but, as your Rank increases, you’ll be able to access higher levels and the better rewards they contain. After each game, you will also gain two Rank Points for a victory, or one Rank Point for a defeat. These cannot be spent, but, as you gain Ranks, you will be able to unlock more formations, scenarios and squad levels.

Within the tower there are several ways to spend your hard-earned reward credits.

Spoils of War: You may get your mitts on spoils of war - a selection of resources, gold and items that have been plundered from the scenario. The spoils of war improve as you rise up the officers' tower.

Special items: Special items can be bought to help your skills and adventuring outside of the Mobilising Armies encampment. Locators will teleport you to a resource type of your choice, from Mining spots to Woodcutting trees, choosing a specific spot at random. Quest kits are a one-slot container for items you often need in quests, such as rope, chisels, lamps and tinderboxes. According to your Rank, you can also buy various uniforms to show off your Mobilising Armies prowess.

Imbue rings: Certain rings can be imbued, adding combat boosts to them.

You may also ask the sergeant to change your rank prefix. You may choose any that you have unlocked.

Glitches

 * When talking to sergeant Cole and another player talks at the same time it caused the text to overlay.


 * A two-line message will also overlay itself when you try to promote your squads without the required rank.


 * There have been reports of a glitch that makes you lose items. If you log out during the tutorial, you will lose items. (Confirmed, many posts on RS Forums), some player have log out while in tutorial without losing items.


 * Even when players leave the mobilising armies area, their quick chat default category is sometimes still set to the minigame's waiting area.


 * You can not get any higher than priority 3, which made waiting times extremely long the day the game came out. [[Image:MA glith.PNG|right]]


 * While in the waiting room you cannot add players from the chat box if they have the rank "junior cadet" in front of their names (gives you an invalid username message) . You will have to right-click on a name in the chat box to add them.


 * If you have a title before your name, such as Junior Cadet, the Quick Chat button will show up at the end of your name, but to access the actual interface you have to click where the button would be had you not had a title before your name.


 * There is a glitch where you keep your rank prefix outside of the mobilising armies area.



Trivia

 * Junior Cadet Bertol reveals that he is actually an undercover H.A.M. member if you talk to him with a Ring of Charos equipped.
 * The Undercover H.A.M. hints that the officers will not believe a low rank. This could mean that a high-ranked player can tell an officer about the H.A.M member.
 * The Elven Cadet Finda is onto a conspiracy and believes she has found "the source". Of what no one is sure.
 * When a player commands one of their squads to move, they occasionally say, "We like to move it!" This may be a reference to the song "I like to move it" by Erick Morillo and Mark Quashie.
 * A Quick Chat phrase; "All your squads belong to me!" is a reference to a popular Internet meme, "All your base are belong to us!".
 * Upon Mobilising Armies' initial release, the "Siege" portion of the minigame was not functional. The counter to enter the game would cycle continuously while the number of players in the waiting room remained the same. Jagex has not yet fixed this problem, and has temporarily closed Siege, Hoard, and Rescue until it is fixed.
 * In the waiting room, a common trick players use to get other players' priority down and have less people in the room is by saying things like: 'omg Zezima is outside!', 'They r selling drag kiteshield at the tutorial', '(highscores name) found a glitch to remove trade limit he's outside go now!' ; "omg why aren't the stairs working???"
 * On the day of release, Jagex updated the RuneScape user interface, along with the new feature "Notes".
 * Mobilising Armies was RuneScape's 30th member's only minigame to be released.
 * A glitch found the day of the release made it possible to add and ignore yourself by adding a space before or after your username. (examples: Player1_ or _Player1)