How to Steal Oil:

On low resources build Farm, Farm, Lumber Mill, Farm, build up enough Lumber for a Shipyard and quickly build it with Peasants repairing it to build it faster. Build an Oil Tanker then find the enemy Shipyard. After finding it place your Oil Tanker over the Oil Spot, you might also Build an Oil Rig on their Oil Spot. On Low resources they will be forced to build a Destroyer which will not be very good at destroying the Oil Rig. This should allow you to use your Battleships to easily overcome them. The best counter to this strategy is to not lose your Oil Spot in the first place. Rush to secure your Oil Spot by repairing your Shipyard to complete it faster, build an Oil Tanker and quickly place it over your Oil Spot.

If your Oil is taken, on Medium you will be able to make one Battleship or more on High Resources to take care of the Oil Tanker or Oil Rig. On Low resources the best thing you can do is quickly try to secure your other Oil Spot by moving your Tanker that was unable to reach the first Oil Spot. If all of the Oil spots are stolen, attempt to use Catapults to drive the enemy Oil Tanker off, or to hit the enemy Oil Rig. If that is not possible build up to Mages with Blizzard.

[ Click to Enlarge - 82 KB ] Oil Tanker Finds enemy Shipyard.	[ Click to Enlarge - 72 KB ] Oil Tanker is placed on Hold Position over enemy Oil.

[ Click to Enlarge - 79 KB ] Enemy finds their Oil Stolen.

The Siege Once you have removed the enemy sea threat, siege their island. Send Battleships around the edges of their entire island looking for buildings and units to attack. Sometimes by moving your Battleship in a diagonal line from the enemy you will be able to take long shots which both of you might not be expecting to connect. Maneuver the Battleship into these positions if you're unable to hit the enemy in the hopes that they will find the perfect spot to take the shot. It doesn't hurt to try. When you leave Battleships along the enemy shore expect them to use Catapults and Blizzard/Death and Decay on them. Check back on them every little while to make sure they are still there and immediately retreat when attacked. Refer to Catapult vs Battleship control if you get into a Catapult fight. If you get attacked by Blizzard's move your Battleships well out of range but still place them in a naval blockade around the island, especially by Oil.

Heavy Firepower Support
Use Battleships or Juggernaughts as support for your invasions. Try to do your fighting by the shore, or lead the enemy to the shore. Juggernaughts will shoot when the enemy comes within range, with the splash damage severely killing or destroying many of them. Make some Archers or possibly a Catapult then use hit and run attacks trying to bait the enemy into range so the Battleships can finish them. Run back to a Transport, get in, and move the Transport as the enemy runs to the shore. Then come back once they back off or are destroyed. Repeat.

Hit and Run Strategies
If the enemy has some serious defenses, practice hit and run strategies. Full assaults usually will not pay off so you have to soften them up before you go in.

If you have control of the sea and you really can't easily invade, make hit and run attacks from the shore. Unload a group of Bloodlusted Ogres or Paladins, attack some buildings, then run back to the supporting fire of the Battleships on the shore. Combine with Catapults for even better results. Using this method you can pick off enemy buildings working your way closer and closer into their town. Often you can bait the enemy units within range of your Battleship fire which can quickly slaughter large numbers of enemy units with splash damage.

If you are playing Humans and having problems with Death Knights get an Invisible Transport and fill it with some Paladins with Exorcism researched. Make sure you know where the enemy's Death Knights are located using Flying Machines or Holy Vision. Command the Paladins to exit the Transport, run in cast Exorcism then run back to the Transport. Send the Transport back home as quickly as possible.

Use the hit and run attacks with Mages. Put them in a Transport, have them hop out, cast a Blizzard, then quickly get back into the Transport and run! You can also use Mages to do hit and run Polymorph attacks against enemy Gryphons, Mages and Death Knights.

Catapults and Blizzards are the best defense against such an attack. Blizzard the ships and units camping by the shore.

Archers
On water maps Archers are generally only good for driving away Flying Machines and for attacking enemy Dragons. Human Rangers fully upgraded can however be a good invasion force.

Get the 300 300 Axe/Arrow upgrade if you suspect the enemy may attack with Dragons.

Humans can sometimes use hit and run Archer attacks to clear an enemy island. Unload from a Transport, shoot at enemy units or buildings then run back to the Transport if you get in trouble. Follow up with supportive Battleship fire to finish off anything that comes near the shore.

Deadly Sea Sapper Strategy
Once you have the enemy off the sea or when you need to soften them up for invasion, use Demolition Squads or Goblin Sappers. Send a Transport full of 2-4 at a time to blow up enemy Farms and important buildings. Don't be afraid to build 2-4 or more Goblin Alchemist buildings to produce both Goblin Zeppelins and Goblin Sappers at the same time.

The Move In Invasion
Once you control the sea, send a Transport over with some Peasants. Build a Barracks right on the enemy's shore. Try if possible to keep it hidden. Use your ships to protect the Barracks. The Barracks has to be close enough to the shore that the Battleships can attack anyone attacking the Barracks. After the Barracks is completed, build some Towers. If the enemy has not reached the Castle/Fortress stage yet, upgrade the Towers to Cannon Towers. If they have a Castle, make a few Guard Towers because Cannon Towers can be attacked by Gryphons.

In this picture the beach head is covered by most anything except Mages, and Goblin Sappers. A few more Guard Towers and some Axe Throwers should stop any Goblin Sappers that come in.

If the enemy is really sloppy about recon you might be able to build your whole town on their island.

Peon Rush
When you take control of the sea, often the enemy will begin defending their islands with Mages. Sometimes once the game reaches it's final stage, the Gold Mines have been mined out and the enemy becomes set on defending against all invasions using Mages. Because you now have a large supply of Lumber and Peons have nothing to do, use them to attack enemy Mages and Death Knights.

Send a Transport full of Peons in there to suicide vs their Death Knights or Mages. People laugh when they see this but it is a valuable strategy. Try if possible to sneak up on the Mages. By the time the enemy realizes what is going on, their Mages are dead to the Peon Assassination Squad.

In the picture there, Both the sappers and Death Knight were killed by only 6 Peons. That's quite a trade for some worthless wood choppers.

[ Click to Enlarge - 56 KB ] 2 Peons Rush a Death Knight.	[ Click to Enlarge - 65 KB ] Peasants chase down a Mage.

Destroy Their Gold Mine On Spiral the Gold Mine is well within range of Battleship fire. Upgrade both Cannon upgrades and use 7 or more Battleships to destroy the enemy's Gold Mine. If they are not paying attention you will be able to destroy it before they notice. 2-3 Shipyards are necessary to quickly make enough Battleships before the enemy uses the mine. This strategy works better against people who do have very good recon and do not discover what is going on until it is too late. You can repair Gold Mines but it is not worth it. A few Catapults will counter this strategy.

This is a trick strategy. There are certainly better things you can spend your mine and time on but the humor of pulling off this trick on someone is worth the trouble and danger. Make sure they do not have any other islands or this may backfire.

[ Click to Enlarge - 41 KB ] A player tries to repair their mine before it is destroyed.	[ Click to Enlarge - 50 KB ] A player discovers their Gold Mine is missing.

Hide Under the Oil Spot
To prevent the enemy from building an Oil Rig on an Oil Spot you may place a Submarine under it on Stand Ground so it doesn't chase anyone. These are very difficult to spot under the Oil Spot, even when you have a Flying Machine in the area. Quite often the enemy will send Tanker after Tanker to the spot not realizing exactly why their Oil Tankers are disappearing. This is also useful when you're trying to avoid being eliminated. If you're having a hard time eliminating people on a water map, make sure you check all of the Oil Spots.

[ Click to Enlarge - 32 KB ] Even when you have a Flying Machine over it, an enemy Giant Turtle it is still difficult to see under the Oil Patch.