Hive Pros and Cons

The Plan
Hives don't work as a low-level defensive strategy. See the "Justification" section below.

As an alternative to a traditional hive, a number of "mini-hives" may offer most of a hive's advantages, and fewer of its disadvantages. Mini-hives are simply several locations where AOM Alliance members receive most of the benefits of a hive, without exposing the entire Alliance to an invader who teleports in.

Why are mini-hives better than a single massive hive? Briefly, because unlike a massive hive, one attacker cannot decimate our entire membership. With 6 mini-hives, only a sixth of our alliance can be attacked at once - an attacker would have to burn 6 teleports to get at us all.



The map below indicates proposed mini-hive site locations. Recommended sites are Alt A, Site B, Site C, Alt D, Site E, and Site F. Note the two alternate sites.

So how do we decide where each of our 100 members will be located? We don't. We let them pick for themselves. Members survey each mini-hive site to determine of the 6 sites, where they want to be.

How do get we all of our members to 6 different minihive locations? Each mini-hive location has a "Site Host" - a designated ranking [R4] Alliance Member. Once each of the Site Hosts are in place, they can simply issue "Alliance Teleport" Invitation on request.

To teleport to a selected site, the Alliance member will request and execute an "Alliance Teleport" from the Site Host. [Alliance members who have previously executed an Alliance Teleport may be SOL.]

Stragglers and late-joiners, can always request a Teleport Invitation from a Site Host, so that members can port to the host's location.



The Map
The map displays possible mini-hive locations for AOM.

On the map, Site A is the current location of Biblybob11 [88:211]. Site B is the curent location of Trucker51 [821:500]. Site C is the current location of Montetw [917:515]. Site D is the current location of Griffler [458:800]. Site E is the current location of SouthernComand [571:408]. And Site F is the current location of KiloAlfa [436:322].

Alt A is the proposed new location for Billybob11, and Alt D is the proposed new location for Griffler.

Ideally, Billybob11 teleports to Alt A, to host a mini-hive there, and Griffler teleports to Alt D to host one there. The other "Site Hosts" are already in place. Sites A and D are too remote. The idea of the Alt locations is to "circle the wagons" with the mini-hives, so that aid from another mini-hive is no more than a few minutes away.

Justification
Typically in the game, Alliance members gather into a Hive - a concentration of members for the purpose of mutual protection and support. Early in the game, a hive can be an effective tool, enabling Alliance members to gather for cooperation and mutual protection.

Now ask yourself where our Alliance's most powerful players are located? In the hive? Why is it that our most powerful player are not located in the hive? My opinion is that alert players recognize that the hive is not the best environment for growth. So they avoid the hive, and grow faster than players in the hive.

My theory is... later in the game, a hive's advantages wane, and its disadvantages overwhelm; so eventually, the hive itself become more disadvantageous than advantageous.

Hive Advantages

 * Wendells - While Wendell rallies can certainly be organized by alliance members not located in a common hive, it's clearly much easier when other rally members are only a few kilometers away, rather than hundreds. It's also worth mentioning the time savings; in a hive, Wendell rally times can be a few minutes; outside a hive, rally times must usually be extended to an hour. [And return trips double the impact of rally distances.]
 * Other Rallies - Obviously all rallies, including Wendell rallies, benefits from the proximity of allies in a hive. So rally attacks on hive invaders are practical within a hive.


 * Reinforcements - During assaults on the hive, short march times enable members to easily reinforce one another and launch counterattacks.
 * Situational Awareness - During complex, multiplayer battles, close proximity enables a "situational awareness" [you can see what the hell is going on] that cannot be duplicated in long distant assaults.
 * Teleport Site Denial - If the positions of bases and resource plots within the hive are well managed [tight], it is possible to deny teleport sites to an invader; there is simply no unoccupied space into which the invader can teleport. In theory, invaders are prevented from teleporting into the interior of the hive. In practice, Site Denial fails as: 1) Alliance members choose to take part in SvS competition and teleport out of the hive, to the opposing state, and; 2) inattentive Alliance members are zeroed by invaders. Both actions open hive sites to the next invader.

Hive Disadvatanges

 * Resource Competition - In a hive, everyone is competing for the same [limited] resources in the surrounding area. This forces raids to extend further and further away from the hive. The resulting extended march times enable targets to shield, flee, build, and otherwise prepare for our incoming attacks.
 * Overwelming Force - speaking mathematically [see Combat Math], virtually nothing in the game linear - everything is exponential. So when a base 16 [B16] attacker - with Tier 6 troops - teleports into a hive of base 13 [B13] defenders - with T5 troops, attacks from four or five B13 defenders will have little to no impact on the B16 attacker; it will require dozens of B13 attacks to impact a mature B16 base. And when an B19 player - with T7 troops - teleports in, hundreds of B13 attacks would be required to impact the B19. For this reason, as the game matures, and the level disparity between players widens [i.e., coiners keep spending], a hive simply becomes a feeding ground for a high-level player. Regardless of the number of players in the hive, they cannot overcoming a 2-tier differential - thay cannot repel a 2-tier higher player.

Repelling Invaders
Everone asumes that the mass of players in a hive povides protection against inveders, but that depends on the level of the invader. For invaders of the same or nearly the same level, protection is available as reinforcments, counterattacks, and numeric intimidation. This is particularly important when the target player is offline - your neighboring allies can "watch your back".

Using base levels as a proxy for actual combat power, the table below summarizes current AOM Alliance player strength [base levels] as of 2019-Apr-24. 1 "Number of Members" indicates the number of AOM Alliance players currently at that base level. 2 "Level or Greater" indicates the number of members at that level or any level greater.

Assuming four B13 or greater players are required to repel an B16 invader [see Combat Math], the numbers suggest, if every AOM member participated in a battle, our total alliance membership could probably repel eight [31 ÷ 4 = 7.75] B16 attackers. However, assuming at any one time there are an average of only 10 players online simultaneously, our average online membership could barely repel one [3.1 ÷ 4] B16 attacker. During weekends we might have as many as 20 players online simultaneously, but the idea that we can repel more than a couple of B16 invaders - is absurd. [See Combat Math for a discussion about the very different situtation of defending against "Aggressive Players".]

MiniHives - A Compromise Solution
MiniHives are a compromise solution, that offers the best hive advantages, and avoids the worst hive disadvantages. The idea is simple [and obvious] don't move everyone into a single massive hive; instead move them into multiple minihives. How many? Assuming we could freely position members where we want, maybe 6 minihives. That puts 16 members in each minihive. We could assign a couple of our power players to each site as "champions" to look out for the others. Then for a couple of weeks, we setup and operate an "Open Enrollment" where members can select, and teleport to, the mini-hive location they prefer.

How can we deploy our 100 members to 6 different mini-hives? Initially, all 100 members are free to join which ever mini-hive they choose. Members who want to join Trucker51's location PM him to ask for an invitation. Members who prefer Bromsmanen's site, ask for an inivtation from him. Likewise for all 6 mini-hive locations.