This page has incorrect information in relation to version 0.3.0 and needs updating
Pillaging (or plundering or raiding) is the process of attacking another town in order to steal some of their resources.
The basics
Building units
In order to attack, you must first have built some units in the Barracks. At first the only units available are Slingers. As you advance through the Military tech tree, the units become more advanced and far superior in combat. The more units you have, the more it will cost for upkeep. Upkeep is the cost of each unit to stay under your command per hour.
Attack preparations
Slingers are very weak. In order to use them and successfully pillage, you're going to have to train at least 2 of them. This is because the town hall offers some defense—while you won't see it on the combat report, it's there.
The attack
In order to attack, you need to be in the island view. You can then click on the target town and a toolbar will appear to the left of the screen. The toolbar will have an option to pillage the town. Select this to activate the Pillage preparation screen. Select the number of troops you think you will need to defeat any defending army and then click Pillage Town. If the attacking forces will be traveling across the island they will depart immediately and move at the speed of the slowest unit. If the attacking forces will be traveling in cargo ships to another island they will begin loading at the trading port. Troops take up space on the cargo ship just like resources. Upgraded trading ports will load troops faster. No matter if you are attacking over land or sea, make sure to send extra cargo ships to bring home some loot.
You can not pillage over the sea if your target has been blockaded by another player. Your ships are turned around just as if the city had a defending naval force. However, you can pillage a town on your island even if their harbor is blockaded.
When two or more people attempt to pillage the same town their armies work together to defeat the defending army. The army that arrives first gets to pillage first.
The Combat Report
Your military adviser will notify you of any combat reports. Sending troops to pillage towns that are undefended will generate a successful Combat Report (CR) without any battle. Your troops will begin loading the loot onto the cargo ships right away. Towns that are well defended may generate a multi-round battle. Each round lasts 20 minutes. The battle is over when the attackers have a 3:1 of offensive power to the defender's defense power, or when the defenders have a 3:1 defense power advantage over the attacker's offensive power.
Loot
The Warehouse will protect a small amount of resources. Any resources that are not protected by the warehouse can be pillaged. Sending more ships will allow you to get more resources. When pillaging, each cargo ship will load 15 goods per minute, regardless of the size of the trading port. All ships load simultaneously, unlike when shipping resources through a trading port. 33 minutes 20 seconds is the maximum load time if all your cargo ships get filled. If you send more cargo ships than strictly necessary it will speed loading times. For example: 10 ships are needed to pillage 5,000 resources, so sending 20 ships will reduce the loading time to 16 minutes 40 seconds.
The type of resources you get is proportional to the total number of resources they have. For instance, if you pillage a town that has 2000 Wood and 1000 Marble (a 2:1 ratio), you will get 1000 Wood and 500 Marble (the 2:1 ratio) when sending 3 ships.
One thing to note as a defender the resources you have in transit are susceptible to looting, I would consider this a bug, but as of 0.3.0 it is the current status.
Other notes
It has been discovered that two attacking armies attacking the same city at the same time do not fight with one another. Each conducts its attack individually and pillages in accordance to the order they attack.
- This has been corrected in v.0.2.8.
If you have a military treaty, then your attack will be coordinated together.
Defence Against Looting
Make yourself an unattractive target
1. Don't have lots of resources in your towns. Stockpiling over 30k resources on a developed server makes you an attractive target, and the boundary is even less on newer servers.
2. Keep a strong military. Again this varies from server to server, so ask an experienced player on that server what they would recommend (however you should not overdo it and cripple your economy).
3. Have a high hideout and keep plenty of spies there. If a pillager can't spy you, chances are he won't attack you. Your hideout should always be at least equal to the level of your town hall. For large players it is recommended you have your hideouts at lvl32 in order to prevent spies from penetrating your defense.
4. Keep at least one warship in every town. This will repel any incoming cargo carrying armies. This has been made slightly redundant since Occupation was introduced, as attacks over land do not need to blockade your harbor in order to pillage your goods. However there are still inexperienced pillagers who will try to attack from another island, therefore it's sensible to do so as it is a minimal cost.
Make it difficult for the pillager
1. If you can, send a fleet to pillage the town from which the pillager came - he may take fright and abandon the attack!
2. Send away as many luxury resources as you can before the attack arrives, then either donate all your wood to the island or use it and any sulphur you have to start training soldiers. These can later be used to exact revenge upon the pillager, or fired to regain some resources.
3. Ask neighbors on your island to help defend you - if you're on good terms with them, or even just donate lots to the mill and mine, they are often likely to help you.
Obbynova00's tips4: Warfare
Defence- Really upgrade town wall, phalanx, and rams.
Offence- Get archers and gunsmen/marksmen or any, but especially with the proper research (Birds flight)
Defence Strategy- If you see someone coming in with a pillage, protect your goods (if you see the attack coming: Send them away (if not blockaded, use them up or whatever. Send in troops and fleets from other towns to help the town in question if you see it coming. (Which I'm not suggesting)
Offence strategy- First send a spy to look at the size of their barracks/shipyard may tell you their power, but don’t go by that since a level 1 barracks can still have catapults, phalanx, and etc. since the troops can be deployed. If you are able, spy their garrison to see if your challenge is too much...lol. Next make sure they don't have a navy, if they do, make sure you blockade first or your pillage will be 100% unsuccessful. Make your blockade and pillage close together in time (back to back) since they will get a chance to defeat your ships. Make sure you take a look at their town wall size since that will knock down your offence too if you underestimate it. Like you may laugh at a guy with no fleets or units, so you send limited troops because you have nothing to fight, but their town wall is level 22 so it kills your troops.