Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Arg I am surounded by knights, I have to build up a huge force just to capture a province!

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Hooray!
Internet Explorer has gone insane and now I have to use another computer to get my Emails
Its so much fun that now all of my turns will take longer to be submitted!
Or, in short, expect my turns to take longer untill I submit them.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

If it's only internet explorer that is broken.

Windows explorer can also acces the internet.

If you still have a working internet connection and a ftp program you could download firefox internet browser from here: ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.or...4/win32/en-US/

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

The Windows Explorer is broken as well :/
I'll try Firefox, or I'll just use my other computer.
*Waiting for the next turn*

EDIT: BLEH, exactly why Im thinking about switching over to linux, after one reset everything is working again, for no logical reason.
Not that I mind things working, but I dont mind it when they just randomly break :\.
Well, now I can happily submit turns, as long as I get turns to submit http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
And don't blame me for not thinking about reset straight away, Im trying to have this computer be reset free.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Turn 10

The province tally is: Machaka 9, Arcosephale 7, Ermor 7, Pythium 6, Marignon 6, Pangaea 5, Man 4, and Jotunheim 4. Over the last two turns, Marignon has had substantial income gains and has now overtaken Machaka (by a little) for first place in that category. Ermor found gems. Pangaea and Man lead in research. Ermor has taken over first place in army size from Machaka. Marignon now employs Dagan the Sage.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Turn 10

Not much important to report, except a strange whisper getting stronger.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Yeah shmonk, MP totally rules. I dont even understand anymore why people play SP. One thing to watch out for with MP games tho: as you move into the end-game your turns can sometimes get quite long (an hour or more). So if you have a lot of games all in the end phase you might get overwhlemed. Many MP players play in multiple games but stagger thier involvement. So once they reach late-game in one match, they will enter another match, knowing that the late-game will be over before the new game starts to take up too much time.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

How many knights are we talking here Ribbon? Cause they usually range in the 5-10 area, which you should be able to counter with a handful of your own knights and the tactics I detailed earlier. Additionally, you can recruit some mages with 2A (2 Air) magic and script them to lightning bolt x5 and all your troops to Hold&Attack and Fire. One or two mages like that will really savage a knight block. Be sure to bring chaff. And I really mean chaff! What is your cheapest unit? Slingers? Militia? Use those to sacrifice on the knight lances.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

One problem is that the army size graph does not take into account the relative worth of the actual troop. An Ermor soulless therefore counts exactly the same as an Ulm knight in the graph, when the knight is maybe 50 times as powerful. So Ermor will skyrocket to the top of the army size graph and eventually squash all the other nations into the bottom of the scale such that it becomes totally meaningless. Ermor with 7 provinces and high dominion (assuming he is either AE or SG) is plenty to begin the exponential growth in army size.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Ya, problem is I dont have enough gold to recruit a bunch of air two mages, or knights, but I am slowly taking out the knights with masses of spears to repel em, and LBS to fire at their archers to cause em to morale and flee.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Dang, I am close ermor as my scout just revealed, this could be a problem. Lucky I can handly recruit angels to smite him with and I have high Dom!!! Fere my Ermor for if you attack me the wrath of the heavens shall be brought apone you, and it shall be your doom!!!. Death to the Dead!!!

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

I'm just ignoring the knights + longbow provinces around my capital.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Who keeps hearing this whispering?? I hope it's not about me? I worry too much, it can't be. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Talk about slow turns. I'm travelling now, in a hotel room in Florida, and this laptop I'm using is SOOO slow (all that my work had available to give me). My turns take almost 30 minutes just to completely do and review everything, and watching battles is even longer, even with most graphics turned off. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif It's a P2 366mhz, I guess at the extreme minimum requirements for Dom2.

But I can't wait to do more games, and I think I will wait until I return home before starting another MP game, assuming another beginner-type game is starting. I look forward to getting farther into this game also.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Turn 11

The province tally is: Machaka 9, Ermor 8, Pythium 7, Arcosephale 7, Marignon 7, Pangaea 6, Jotunheim 5, and Man 4. Pythium, Ermor, and Pangaea found gems.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Turn 11

Vespur now tops the hall of fame well deserved. Freaking 3 airmage commanders throwing lightning bolts, casting windguide and summoning skeletons and that vision foe crosbow was nasty too.

A mysterious old *censored* decides to *censored* for *censored* and *censored*.

In the whisper something about a seed can now be ascertained.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Hmmm... very "interesting" events this turn. At least for me. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

And this whispering business... a seed... what type of seed? An acorn? A sunflower? I must know!!

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

A seed?
Sound like the seed of omnisciense (sp?) to me =P

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Turn 12

Some weird crap happens.

A seed gets planted.

Dagan's contract with Marignon is almost over.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Some usefull links for me, might be usefull for other people.

http://www.sangster.org/dominions/grimorie.php
http://hep.nbi.dk/~kittel/dom2/
http://www.dominions-2.org/files.htm

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

The first link should be changed to something like: http://www.sangster.org/dominions/grimorie.php

Alternatively, you should "hide" that long URL, by using the ["url=address] text [/url] code (without the initial ").

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Just wondering, isnt the word Grimoire?

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

It ought to be, but it has been spelt "Grimorie" quite often in Dominions, if not always (in my Dom 2 manual for example). I guess some typos die hard.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Turn 12

The province tally is: Machaka 10, Ermor 9, Marignon 8, Pythium 7, Arcosephale 7, Pangaea 6, Jotunheim 6, and Man 5. Pangaea and Machaka found gems. Man leads in research, with Pangaea and Arco close behind.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Turn 13

I'm starting to lag behind.

I water a seed.

Dagan has been bought by Ermor.

Jotunheim has bough rexors barbarians. Barbarians hit hard, but tend to run away easily.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Turn 13

The province tally is: Machaka 11, Ermor 9, Marignon 9, Pythium 8, Arcosephale 7, Pangaea 6, Jotunheim 6, and Man 5. Pythium, Ermor, and Marignon found gems. Jotunheim commands Rexor's Barbarians, and Ermor now employs Dagan the Sage.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Just a random thought for newbies. I consider it a rule of thumb to get 1 province/turn for about the first 6 to 8 turns and then 2 provinces/turn after that. Going up to 3/turn on larger maps where you dont contact a player.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Yes, but how do you expand at 2 a turn and still search the sites you've conquered and still do research? It seems to me that you can either conquer first and search later, or conquer and search at the same time, while still deciding when to do research.

Just thinking out loud.

Still trying to look for some new "growth" that this mysterious seed has supposedly taken root. I'm afraid it's some giant darkvine, but luckily I can't see it yet, if that's the case (or I'm far enough away that it doesn't appear on the horizon). http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smirk.gif

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

I'm thinking it's probably crabgrass. That stuff gets everywhere.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Basically, you will want to reach an average of one province per turn (more if possible), but since you cannot take two provinces on the first turn (on Independents 6 at least), that means taking a few more provinces on the way.

As soon as possible, the capital should be recruiting one mage per turn, with other provinces recruiting the mundane commanders needed for leadership. Most nations have access to a cheap mage for research: the Daughter of Avalon for Man is a prime example. Some nations have access to mages cheap to recruit, and others cheap to maintain: for example, Marignon has both the Initiate and the Inquisitor, and they give the same amount of research. However, the Initiate is more expensive to maintain, since he is not holy, while the Inquisitor will cost you more to recruit. In those cases, you should see if you would rather have a couple of priests just in case (undead invasion, Pretender being killed...), or if you cannot afford more than those 65 gold coins for the Initiate. If you are wealthy, you can go the Witch Hunter way, for a faster research, or even the Grand Master... but recruiting one Grand Master a turn may be difficult.

Still, you should not expect to be able to research and search sites at the same time if you need some of your mages for expansion. The low-level mages (Inquisitor and Initiate) are good for research though, so those will likely stay at home and not do anything else. A couple of Grand Masters should handle your magic searching, along with your Pretender, if needed. Site searching is likely less important than expansion however, unless you are considering selling a province: in this case, either you search for sites to see if you should really sell the province, or you don't search it and let your neighbour do the job. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif I would rather search for sites in this case though, as giving them a -50% blood site would *hurt*.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Things haven't gone exactly the way I wanted them to go. I'm still going to go on till the end and if I fail I can always start chanting the loser mantra "I might not win, but I can surely influence who does win".

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

How about "I had a chance of 1:8 in the first place"?
Maybe "I knew I was going to lose from the get-go"?
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

EDIT:
A question for the experts:
Which is more dangerous, a province of Tribal Warriors + Tribal Archers or a province of Heavy Cavalry + Heavy Infantry?

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Knights / Longbows or Heavy Cav / Heavy Inf are very dangerous.
Tribals are not dangerous at all. You might want to use archers against them, as they have little armor and no shields. They also use daggers so any melee units can repel them, even units with axes or shortswords.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

The heavy cavalry provinces are one of the hardest ones to take, especially early in the game. There are three level of HC provinces where they have increasing levels of armor. The only way to know which you are up against is to attack with a scout on retreat and examine the armor on the cavs during the battle.

The lowest level of armor is not that much harder than the standard Heavy Infantry province. The middle level is getting very tough, and the highest level is even tougher than the knight provinces.

On the other hand, tribal warriors and tribal archers is quite easy. They suffer from the usual low morale problem of barbarians. Try to get them to retreat with your own archers guarded by high protection infantry spaced around the battlefield as targets for the enemy arrows. It is not unusal to take such provinces with 0-2 troops lost, especially if your infantry comes equipped with a shield (which protects from incoming arrows).

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Thanks for all the tips, almost everything you said was useful, and now I have a much more sound attack plan.
I think I'll have to submit my turn tomorrow though (to the disappointment of everyone, Im sure) since its pretty late and Im pretty busy :\

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

This is what I usually do to go after knight or calvary provinces earlier on in the game:

The army
--------

A group of militia or otherwise cheapo troops (one of the few times I buy them). I put these near the front of the tactics box. Have them attack closest or hold and attack, doesn't matter.

A group of good line troops. Slow, high armor, decent morale.

Crossbowman set to fire calvary (or fire closest, it usually doesn't matter since mounted independant troops are almost always at the front due to high movement). You can count on 1 or 2 volleys

The concept
-----------

The militia are there to absorb the lance attacks and maybe slow the calvary down a little. They'll pretty much get mowed down and you can have a good laugh. You want just the right amount - the best is when the calvary kill all of them, because its annoying to have them retreat all over your provinces.

Your line troops are there to hold the calvary in place while your xbows hurt them with . The more the better. Having a priest with sermon of courage or fanatacism helps here. If you have some spare battlemages with armor piercing/armor negating spells (stellar lights is a good one with evoc 1), or poison or fear spells, it can only help.

--

Again this is more for early game. You can do a lot more nasty things to calvary once you get some high powered magic going, or assassins, or whatnot. But I find that calvary provinces are usually high gold and that can really help early on.

Also, there are many ways to augment this. Sometimes I try to set it up so some weak prot but heavy hitters (like barbarians) attack the calvary after they hit the line. I'd say it the barbs help about 50% of the time. Although even when it does work, the barbarians are just useless fodder. Better to have more line troops if possible.


I'd be interested if others do things differently.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Its a balance, as with all things, shmonk. But you first need to acquire the province in order to search it, right? So, better to put all your efforts into grabbing every possible province before your enemies can get there before you. Then go back through and search them all for the mid/late game power. Occassionally, if I am desperate for gems and feel confident of my research situation, I will send out a mage in the early game to do a lot of searching.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Turn 14

Pangaea cast the global enchantment Mother Oak. The province tally is: Machaka 12, Ermor 11, Marignon 10, Arcosephale 8, Jotunheim 8, Pythium 7, Pangaea 6, and Man 6. Machaka has a new fort and so now has a total of two, along with Ermor. Machaka had a substantial rise in income and is now the clear category leader. Pangaea increased gem income (i.e., Mother Oak), as did Jotunheim. Obscuro the Hidden Master and the Armored Fist of God are available for hire.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Turn 14

I cast mother oak a couple of turns behind on schedule.

I prepare for expansion.

Ermor is now leading in everything, except income.

Rexors barbarians have died.

Edit: Don't forget that clams and fever festishes don't show up in the graphs.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Ermor is second in provinces and fourth in research.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

True. That's what I get for doing turns late at night.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Hmm... how can you get the research necessary for Mother Oak at turn 14 and still keep churning out armies?

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Mother Oak is only Enchant 5, isnt it?

With a relatively strong magic pretender (not to mention the assumed national researcher support) that should be possible.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Alteration 5.

Alteration has all the spells for a sc pretender, which could take one province a turn from turn 5.

Satyr hoplites with protection on them can deal with the weaker independents.

Ofcourse this is all speculation and has nothing to do with the current game.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Status update here as my SMTP has died on me, so I cannot send mails via my standard mail program right now.

I am missing turns for Arcoscephale, Jotunheim and Man.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Wait, what do I do then? Can I still send you my turns?

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

You can send them just fine; I am simply unable of sending them through my mail program (well, I was unable, it seems to be working now).

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Turn 15

Not much to report

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Turn 15

The province tally is: Machaka 14, Ermor 12, Marignon 11, Pythium 8, Arcosephale 8, Jotunheim 8, Man 7, and Pangaea 6. Man, Ermor, and Jotunheim found gems. Man hired Obscuro, and <font color="#666666">Marignon</font> Machaka hired the Armored Fist of God. God's Justice is available for hire, and Dagan is open for bidding again.

Edit: It was Machaka, not Marignon, that hired the Armored Fist of God.

Re: PBEM game: The first step (Running)
 

Whoo! I have conquered the most useless, unprofitable provinces! Yay?