Probably due to sheer laziness, or trying to take my turns either at work or in those brief periods where my 2 year old is distracted I use the "all" button pretty much exclusively when attacking. I was wondering if the better players (and anyone else) could comment on if they also do this or use the 3 at a time option.....that way if you are say attacking 30 on 20 and things go (very) badly and you wind up 12 on 15 it is obviously smart to stop. I am curious if the better players ALWAYS take the time to do it the slow way to be on the safe side. 

Before the heavy rollers offer their thoughts, I figure I'll start with mine.

First of all, on some boards with a limited amount of attacks.  Hitting "T" counts for one attack; the implications there should be obvious. But let's assume for argument's sake that the above scenario isn't the case.

There are many cases where I am "committed" to taking the country and I hit the "T" button.  Usually because..

• I want/need a card.
• I want/need the territory and/or bonuses associated with it.
• I want/need my opponent to not have the territory/bonus.
• The probability of winning is overwhelmingly in my favor.

There are cases where the above doesn't apply, but I might be able to create a "T" situation by rolling with the 3 button, or attacking with a limited number of armies to test the waters.

• Sometimes I want too whittle down the # of armies of an opponent's territory because that territory is defending multiple borders -- I don't really want it (yet), but I want to discourage attacks from that location, or even encourage others to attack it at their expense.
• In heavily or totally fogged games, I will almost always start with a single roll of 3 ..just to see what's in there.
• When large stacks are involved, or when my attacking territory is vulnerable on other borders, I typically throw up a a small or medium sized trial balloon. 

There's no question the T button is a time saver, but I suspect the "in-between" alternative is underused by a lot of players.

I am lazy too, so I use the T button quite a bit. And if there is a 1/1000 chance of devastatingly bad rolling where I should have stopped earlier, it's not worth my time to worry about it.

But, when I see that bad rolling is a reasonable possibility, and that stopping really is what I would want to do, I do find the patience within to press 3 a bunch of times. (For some reason I never use the partial continuous attack. I'm not sure I even know how it works.)

I often decide how many I would want to lose, and tell it to attack with just that number.  It's the nice middle ground between hitting the 3 and the t.

Hugh wrote:

 (For some reason I never use the partial continuous attack. I'm not sure I even know how it works.)

Confirming my suspicions.

If I'm not mistaken, it's a little tricky on the GUI end.   Similar to how you advance units after an attack, you pull down the menu and once you've selected a number, the order goes through with out confirmation.   My understanding of how it works is you will continuously attack until you have depleted (from your territory), the number of armies chosen.  So if you have 50 armies and chose to attack with 10, It should attack until you are down to 40 armies.

M57 wrote:

Hugh wrote:

 (For some reason I never use the partial continuous attack. I'm not sure I even know how it works.)

Confirming my suspicions.

If I'm not mistaken, it's a little tricky on the GUI end.   Similar to how you advance units after an attack, you pull down the menu and once you've selected a number, the order goes through with out confirmation.   My understanding of how it works is you will continuously attack until you have depleted (from your territory), the number of armies chosen.  So if you have 50 armies and chose to attack with 10, It should attack until you are down to 40 armies.

My understanding is based on the FAQ.  The FAQ says that that is the maximum number that you are willing to lose.  Therefore I interpret that as saying that you stop attacking when it is possible to exceed that number on the NEXT attack.

So if you have 50 and choose to attack with 10, you'll attack and stop on the following possibilities:

1. You won the attack.
2. You lost 9 with 2+ defenders left.
3. You lost 10.

If my understanding is incorrect, then the FAQ should be adjusted.

To answer the top question, I make it a point to think through my objectives and use the right attacking number for my goal. :-)

btilly wrote:

To answer the top question, I make it a point to think through my objectives and use the right attacking number for my goal. :-)

I take this to mean that you do use the pull-down "partial continuous attack" feature.

M57 wrote:

btilly wrote:

To answer the top question, I make it a point to think through my objectives and use the right attacking number for my goal. :-)

I take this to mean that you do use the pull-down "partial continuous attack" feature.

I have been known to do so, yes.  But usually I use one of 3, A, or T.  (Sometimes 2.)

When I really care I use 3.  If its not a big deal then A or T. 

I used to really care a lot more than I do now.

btilly wrote:

M57 wrote:

Hugh wrote:

 (For some reason I never use the partial continuous attack. I'm not sure I even know how it works.)

Confirming my suspicions.

If I'm not mistaken, it's a little tricky on the GUI end.   Similar to how you advance units after an attack, you pull down the menu and once you've selected a number, the order goes through with out confirmation.   My understanding of how it works is you will continuously attack until you have depleted (from your territory), the number of armies chosen.  So if you have 50 armies and chose to attack with 10, It should attack until you are down to 40 armies.

My understanding is based on the FAQ.  The FAQ says that that is the maximum number that you are willing to lose.  Therefore I interpret that as saying that you stop attacking when it is possible to exceed that number on the NEXT attack.

So if you have 50 and choose to attack with 10, you'll attack and stop on the following possibilities:

1. You won the attack.
2. You lost 9 with 2+ defenders left.
3. You lost 10.

If my understanding is incorrect, then the FAQ should be adjusted.

I believe what you and the FAQ say is correct, with the only exception being I'm not sure how smart it is in regards to if there is only 1 unit left to defend and you have only lost 9 then it may or may not stop.

As for the original question, I normally use 'A' or 'T' if my plan is to take the territory...although when those types of attacks fail I always rethink that strategy :P

Hugh wrote:

I am lazy too, so I use the T button quite a bit. And if there is a 1/1000 chance of devastatingly bad rolling where I should have stopped earlier, it's not worth my time to worry about it.

But, when I see that bad rolling is a reasonable possibility, and that stopping really is what I would want to do, I do find the patience within to press 3 a bunch of times. (For some reason I never use the partial continuous attack. I'm not sure I even know how it works.)

I use the partial continuous if the stacks are larger than say 20, and I'm attacking another sizable stack.