Turn by Turn by Zen (Atlantis)

Sorry for the Delay, I wanted to do another round of turns (up to say 17 or 18) but it just doesn't look like it's going to happen as of right now. So I'll answer a few questions then post more on the Turn by Turn later.

Originally posted by gibson:
1) How might have your opening been different had you not been hit by the Order/Prod scale zeroing bug?

Well I would have had more gold in order to buy more mages. As of turn 13, I have 4 or 5 Initiates of the Deep that could be Deep Seers, which would give me 20 more RP per turn. It would also have presented me with more options to make my second army faster.

2) Coral guard are incredibly slow, which is fine when they are fighting tritons, but they get decimated by land armies it seems (either by arrows or just javelins/steel). Why are these guys useful (and on a related note, why would one ever build the less armored Versions other than cost?)

I haven't yet gotten on land, that is why I prefer when I will go after a strong land assult, to take a castle first in order to produce masses of Indep HI, HC, and Archers. The Coral Guard are the only unit besides the War Shambler/Mother Guard that have a Shield and Armor (which the War Shambler does not have Armor and the Mother Guard are expensive).

The Reef Warrior has no shield, so he will get mowed down by archers on land (morso than the Guards do).

Land Provinces at this point are a liability until I can focus my attention away from the Sea, so there is no point in dealing with that particular aspect since Diplomacy is regulated to giving gold/gems/items (against the AI).

3) You say your position is weaker than normal. What would you consider normal at this stage?

I have a decent amount of provinces and income, but I have a low Gem Income and a bad Research String. One of the few advantages of taking a very focused mage nation and gem income is the ability to utilize Elementals. Right now I do not have elementals so I am unable to defend or take offense with my mages in an efficent manner. I don't even have a good attack based spell yet with them so that they could turn the tide of the battle. Atlantis has good mages and a great initial income to exploit mass elemental summoning, but during this game because of the Pretender and Research choices, as well as expansion and reliance on my Dagon I am in what I consider a weaker position if I was in MP. I don't have the option to turn all my Deep Seers into a combat attack force.

4) You seem to have been fairly lucky in combat so far, taking fairly low losses and no afflictions on Zen. In my experience I've had difficulty reproducing this success, often because there are no "easy" independents within reach. Is your success a function of some good luck, or something I'm overlooking (good scouting info, learned experience (i.e. ichthyids are easier than trolls), etc)? As a similar question, when I get afflictions on the pretender, it is often Lost an Eye or Limp, both of which greatly hamper his combat ability. If you end up with an affliction, what are your plans for your pretender?

Unfortunately learning and exploiting the Indep AI is something you have to learn. Also determining how much a threat an Indep is and it's actual #'s. In playing nations that have naturally weak initial starts (like TC Spring and Autumn, or BK) in order to stay competitive you have to expand early in order to get your resources up. So you have to be able to take a province with the minimum of losses with the least amount of soldiers that you need.

Even an Eye or a Limp would still make the Dagon a decent combatant, since he has the ability to trample. If he ever became a liability in combat I would regulate him to Research/Summoning/Forging (more than likely the latter).

5) Another hypothetical question, but I've experienced it and wondered how you'd cope: say you grossly underestimate a province defense and lose 90% or more of your prophet's force and/or your pretender. Aside from starting over (which is what I've been doing as I get a feel for things), how would you cope with such a huge set back?

This is a psychological impact on the game. Noone likes to lose their pretender, or their main force and their mindset is based on it so it looks like "Oh my god, I could never win". Which is something you must, as you play, overcome. For the greater part of my experience, everone comes into situations where they have bad luck, poor choices, so you are on a fairly even playing field. It is your ability to cope and take advantages of others mistakes that will bring you back on par.

A while ago, I started playing by killing my pretender so that I had to rely specifically on the nation in order to succeed. This has made my transition away from that considerably easier. It has also altered my perception of building Pretenders. As if you don't spend an incredible amount of points on them, the loss of him dying doesn't impact your game as much as if you made a Bless Effect Pretender.