Gem use question.

[Borg]

Thanks Arryn.

Q : I have some Magic Arrows coming at one of my mages who's researching in a Fortress.
Does that mean there must be a spy/assassin/scout in the province - and thus time to start patrolling or hiring some (poor) province defense ? - Or is my province not necessarily infiltrated ?

Just some info :
I'm playing Machaka-default on the Aran map.
Indy's : 7
Order +3 / Heat +3 / Misfortune -1 / Magic +3
Dominion 8
Wizard's Tower.

My god is Lisa ............. the old Crone
25pts for starters - probably the cheapest isn't she ?
Gave her 2Fire - 2Air - 2Earth
She's not fast (1/6) but then the Machaka hoplite can move only 1 province at a time as well, so nothing gives.
Makes it more important to keep her in the right strategic locations all the time as she can't jump around the world like some can.

I got a great starting locating.
The Coastal Forest in the North-Western part of the map. No marine nations , so nobody in my back (for now) and surrounded by yummie yummie farmland (mucho dineros, Machaka like )

I just finished turn 20 and have 6 provinces under my control, three Fortresses and generate 449 gold per turn. Resources are not a problem.
I've researched Alteration and Evocation both up to lvl 3 and will have finished lvl 1 of Construction next turn.
That's about ((20+40+80 *2) +20 = 300) pts of research in 20 turns , or an average of about 15 per turn. Average I guess, but I have want I want at this point. Fireball, Magma Bolts, Ironskin.
I just came across the spell Quickness ..... ...... darn ... I should have given Lisa 1W too. Oh well, I know now

I'm going to settle down for a turn and then turn my attention more southwards (towards the peninsula) where Marignon seems to be stuck in its starting province.
I noticed they went up to 2 provinces just recently but then back to 1 and none of the other factions seemed to go up a province that turn.
How do you explain that ?
Anyway , Marignon has a tough time because its bordering provinces include one with Heavy Cavs and others with lots of units (90-100ish)
So, I'm going to try to beat Marignon while they're still down (my bad ) and because the peninsula is relatively easy to defend afterwards. If I can add that regio to my Dominion I (think) I can just "out-economy" the others.
Q : is Flames from Afar really worth the 10 Fire Gems because I really have my doubts about that one - since I only generate 1F gem per turn)
My other neighbour - located in that midwest mountain region - is Pythium. They have three provinces at the time, but their armies do not have a threatening size for me at this point , nor do they generate enough income to get me worried.
I have spies all over their territory , so I notice every move they make.
I just have a tough time cranking my Dominion up in their neighbourhood.
My Bane Blade Prophet is preaching constantly in a nearby Dom1 neutral province but can't get anything higher than that.

Pythium seems to use high Dom, is that the standard for them ?

Anyway, having a great time with a wonderfull and REALLY strategic game (ordered it Online yesterday , btw) and really anxious to try out all those other interesting strategies/units/Gods I've laid eye on so far.

btw, is there a turn limit in the demo ?

[ July 23, 2004, 10:45: Message edited by: Borg ]

[Arryn]

Originally posted by Borg:
Q : I have some Magic Arrows coming at one of my mages who's researching in a Fortress.
Does that mean there must be a spy/assassin/scout in the province - and thus time to start patrolling or hiring some (poor) province defense ? - Or is my province not necessarily infiltrated ?

You are being hit by the L3 Enchantment spell Seeking Arrow (pg. 103 in the manual which you don't have yet ). You may or may not have a spy in the province, one isn't required to target the spell.

btw, is there a turn limit in the demo ?

40 turns, and magic is capped at L4.

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by Arryn:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Borg:
1) do you have to keep "some presence" in a fortress to defend it

Yes, you do.

---

You don't actually. The attacker must still break down the walls even if there are no defenders inside. This is most notieable with the dark citadel.

[Arryn]

Originally posted by Graeme Dice:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Arryn:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Borg:
1) do you have to keep "some presence" in a fortress to defend it

Yes, you do.

---

You don't actually. The attacker must still break down the walls even if there are no defenders inside. This is most notieable with the dark citadel.

---

I've had unoccupied castles captured instantly by small numbers of enemy troops that would otherwise have taken several turns to break down the walls (I know this because that same raiding enemy group later laid siege to a neighboring castle). Which is why I no longer leave my castles undefended. Ever. Regardless of what the rules say.

Those Castles could have not been repaired from their Last siege, had bonuses to siegeing in some way or otherwise been able to batter down whatever fortress you had on their own. This is remarkably true if you've been fighting long drawn out wars on multiple fronts and your castles are in a constant state of disrepair.

[Borg]

Problem :

My mage has Fires from Afar in his ritual spell list, but its shaded grey.

The Mage has Fire 2 lvl and has 13 fire gems available.

From what I understood so far all I would need is 1 Fire gem to give him Fire3 skill for that spell and 10 gems for the Ritual, correct ?
Then why do I get the message "The ritual is too complex for your mage" ?

[PvK]

Because you can't increase your skill with gems for purposes of casting Ritual spells. You can only do that for casting battlefield spells.

You'll need to get him a fire-boosting item, empower him, or use another mage, before he'll be able to cast Fires From Afar.

PvK

P.S. Fires From Afar is worth it when you hit a province full of valuable and vulnerable flammable units (e.g. a convention of mages and high priests). It's probably not the best use of fire gems when most of the targets don't fit that description.

[ July 24, 2004, 00:20: Message edited by: PvK ]