While Footmen Frenzy original is more popular than XV, this is no reason not to play it. This game continued on with the non-rock paper scissor layout of the current no-hu versions. In current versions we are bringing back teching, more balanced than before, and also creep starts. So now you have 3 legit and balanced ways to start a game.
The rules of the game are simple. You start on a team of 1 to 3 players, on a map divided into four corners with a neutral ground connecting them all. Each player begins with a barracks and 1200 gold. Footmen automatically spawn every few seconds at your barracks and there are shops scattered behind your base and in the center of the map. Killing enemy units will grant you gold based on the strength of the unit. You then can decided to spend your gold on unit upgrades, items, or heroes. When everyone has finally loaded the map, the game camera centers over the Hero Taverns, waits for the host to choose rules, and you are left to your own devices.
The ultimate goal is to destroy all other teams by razing their barracks. As soon as a player's barracks is destroyed, he loses all his units and spawning privileges and gets observer privileges across the entire map. The winner is declared when only one team is left. It's that simple!
Or is it? The possibilities of Frenzy are endless. Should you put all your money into hero items and hope for the best? Buy creeps immediately and gain money for a late hero? Go pure Creeps? In your first game, you might want to stick with the basics -- get a known hero and play conservatively. Upgrade your army through the tiers and spend money equally on Weapons, Armor, and a race-specific upgrade like Improved Range. If you're an experienced player with a new ally, let him experiment and feed him any spare change you might have. It's always more effective for the experienced one to support the new player, than vice versa.
The team that coordinates has a much greater chance of success than the team where everyone tries to be the winner. Because you can trade resources like a real game, it's often useful to pool your money with other teammates so one teammate can get to Tier Four. Some players divide into offense and defense, with one in charge of base defense, and the other two providing money for upgrades. Another common team strategy is having fewer heroes on a team, while the other teammates upgrade their army (the heroes level slightly faster). A very balanced way of playing is to have one player buying creeps and upgrading attack and armor immediately, one player get an Area of Effect hero like the Archmage, and one player get a hero killer like CattleBruiser.
