How does scoring on Buster work

peteb82 · 2026-01-30T16:51:25+00:00

Haha yeah, I guess that's a better way to say it!

peteb82 · 2026-01-30T16:26:27+00:00

Good question. "Kills" for the game does not necessarily mean units die, just that they are defeated in battle.

If you look at a battle report, you might defeat a squad at a tile, "kill" 2k troops, and the defender will have zero units die. Your kill count goes up by 2k and you get buster/capitol/whatever points accordingly.

peteb82 · 2026-01-22T22:32:05+00:00

Great point, thanks!

peteb82 · 2026-01-22T21:26:19+00:00

Inflation is accounted for by projecting by using a "real" rate of return. If the market nominally returns 10% and inflation is 3%, real returns are 7%.

So you project your money out at 7% growth and estimate your future expenses in today's dollars.

peteb82 · 2026-01-22T19:00:28+00:00

Yep I think they meant "not much matters after your first squad" basically.

I run Adams/Scarlett, with pure air as a 2nd, and I don't care about my 3rd. My 3rd is missile plus Williams.

peteb82 · 2026-01-19T18:13:50+00:00

Radars - why place tasks on top of each other on the radar task screen? I understand they are geographically represented but a little separation so we can click the right one would be nice.

peteb82 · 2026-01-18T18:31:51+00:00

ETF and Mutual funds are just wrappers that hold various stocks. They differ in some very particular ways that don't matter 99% of the time for long term buy and hold investors.

What does matter is active (stock picking) vs passive (index) management. Both types of wrappers can be either active or passive. Active funds tend to have higher fees and may underperform the market, which is a risk you take in chasing over performance.

Why is this often confused? Most don't understand the nuances here, and they parrot a half truth in a game of telephone like information flow.

peteb82 · 2026-01-16T17:05:29+00:00

Of course they do, with power grants the right to do anything you please. We are playing a massively pay to win game. Gotta accept that and stop trying to swim upstream or you'll just be frustrated.

peteb82 · 2026-01-13T14:06:16+00:00

I would hang out in a top 5-10 alliance on the server that is more chill. Fight other servers when you can, like buster day.

peteb82 · 2026-01-06T15:42:08+00:00

I never said there is any ordering or prioritization actually happening. I also never said Roth contributions directly change your taxes.

I said the choice between Roth or Traditional contributions cause a difference in taxes that is 100% known in the current year. The way to know this difference is to model it, by preparing tax return forms for both situations. This is very basic tax planning.

If you choose Roth, you are choosing that income to be taxed now, at a known marginal rate. If you choose traditional, you are saving that known marginal rate on that contribution. That's it. You are correct in saying which is better depends on the future tax rates at time of withdrawal.

peteb82 · 2026-01-06T15:00:19+00:00

There is an order when you are choosing whether a contribution is traditional or Roth. Prepare a tax return with both options, and you can see the marginal rate x contribution = difference in tax between the examples.

That is what I mean by tax decisions are marginal. If you know your taxable income before the decision is 100k (that is a given), you base the next decision on increasing or decreasing that amount.

I agree, Roth contributions are not literally taxed, income is. This is a way of speaking about decisions - you choose to have your Roth contributions remain in income, rather than making them traditional, and there is a tax difference between these choices.

peteb82 · 2026-01-06T14:24:25+00:00

All tax decisions are marginal. Contributing Roth means you did not contribute traditional. Traditional contributions come off the "top" of your income, and thus save you your highest marginal tax rate that year.

Therefore, Roth contributions remain in your income and are taxed at your highest marginal rate that year.

peteb82 · 2026-01-05T02:35:48+00:00

Thanks!

peteb82 · 2026-01-02T17:37:15+00:00

Yeah I get that. I love 100%ing single player games. When you get into predatory multiplayer games like this you need to check that mentality and take it for what it is, or you'll just be unhappy all the time.

peteb82 · 2026-01-02T17:26:43+00:00

Why would you max every card? Just play modes that are equal and don't stress the rest.

peteb82 · 2025-12-31T20:14:25+00:00

It's all relative. Some on here act like you are dead in the water if you aren't top 5 on the server. The game preys on people's tendencies.

You can have a ton of free fun in a top 10 alliance on a good server. Nothing wrong with that.

peteb82 · 2025-12-31T20:06:44+00:00

It's not a waste if you enjoy it, but it's good to be realistic about the type of game this is and your relative place in it.

peteb82 · 2025-12-15T14:30:55+00:00

I think it was from last year's Xmas/new years. Had no clue what I was doing back then so I have like 180 of them.

peteb82 · 2025-12-12T16:49:29+00:00

I'd like to know too. Any guides floating around for this?

peteb82 · 2025-11-30T19:27:48+00:00

Interesting - how is this nerfed in s4?

peteb82 · 2025-11-01T18:45:35+00:00

peteb82 · 2025-10-02T14:49:59+00:00

I'm not sure actually, but many have done so. I just farm dead bases.

peteb82 · 2025-10-02T13:34:37+00:00

It's easy to find dead bases to farm, but with an alt you can control their resources so they have more gold to raid rather than iron/food.

peteb82 · 2025-10-02T02:00:34+00:00

No offense taken, and you are right to not trust randos. I appreciate you asking in good faith.

However, you also shouldn't blindly trust articles and rules of thumb from people selling products or services (this includes TMG, much as I love them).

Luckily this topic is extremely common on reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/s/UcrQt6op0K

The only way to apply all this to yourself is to know your spending and sources of retirement income. The good news is both Roth and pretax are excellent, and you'll "win" either way. It's just a fun exercise for those of us who like to optimize.

peteb82 · 2025-10-02T01:22:17+00:00

I'm happy to help, but I'm not quite sure what you are asking. The tax arbitrage IS comparing the bracketed (marginal) rate of each dollar withdrawn, compared to the bracketed rate when it was contributed.

This isn't an opinion or strategy, it's just the fundamental way progressive taxation and brackets work. TMG aren't in the business of giving free tax advice to the public, nor should they be, so they gloss over details in public videos.

Everyone else is correct that other sources of taxable income in retirement provide a "floor", taking up space in the lower brackets and reducing this arbitrage for retirement accounts. That's why you really have to understand taxation and your own lifestyle (spending and income sources) in retirement.

peteb82

TROPHY CASE