First Post: Suggestions on Nation choices?

[Networkingguru]

quantum_mechani said:
'A few hours' is a very loose description of blitz games. They almost always last at least 2-3 hours, and I've played them as long as 8. That said, you will probably have difficulty finding players that want to blitz on very large maps, since 25+ provinces per player past turn 40 can already be nearing an hour per turn.

OUCH! Having never played this MP, I am having a hard time seeing how it takes that long. In the late game, I may take 15 minutes to complete a turn (except for LA Ermor, LOL), but definitely no longer. How does MP work? Does each player take thier turn and then the next player gets to try? I was under the impression that turn decisions were simultanious?

[quantum_mechani]

It's simultaneous, but as I said, it can easily take individual players close to an hour for a turn (though it depends on a lot of factors, especially if you are in an intense war, careful scripting eats a lot of time).

[KissBlade]

Amusingly enough you seem to be very very fond of the powerhouse nations. You might consider Pythium next. They seem to suit your tastes for MA. If you want to try something that requires a bit more finesse yet retain the SC/thug feel, Yomi is a nice pick. LA TC is quite good actually. A variety of magics as well as a good amount of strats you can do.

[Twan]

If you want to try a water nation like the ones you like, Atlantis is a good choice in all ages too (in Early of course, it's one of the best thug nation, with lot of high hp/good prot leaders, but in MA or even in LA the big mages/good hp leaders can become above average thugs, and in all eras summoned Sea Kings are also a good base).

ps : but note that sea nations aren't at all a challenge against most AIs, land computer nations are very unefficient at invading seas, you'll just have to worry about other sea powers

[llamabeast]

Re one turn/day being slow: For the first 20 or so turns it is definitely a bit slow, but after that tends to feel about right to me. People often play two or even three games at once, but it's important to stagger them, otherwise they all reach late game at once and your head explodes.

[Networkingguru]

Twan said:
If you want to try a water nation like the ones you like, Atlantis is a good choice in all ages too (in Early of course, it's one of the best thug nation, with lot of high hp/good prot leaders, but in MA or even in LA the big mages/good hp leaders can become above average thugs, and in all eras summoned Sea Kings are also a good base).

ps : but note that sea nations aren't at all a challenge against most AIs, land computer nations are very unefficient at invading seas, you'll just have to worry about other sea powers

I'll give them a try as well, thanks. I haven't chosen water nations at this point as I have not played many water-heavy maps, but I will give them a try.

[Networkingguru]

KissBlade said:
Amusingly enough you seem to be very very fond of the powerhouse nations. You might consider Pythium next. They seem to suit your tastes for MA. If you want to try something that requires a bit more finesse yet retain the SC/thug feel, Yomi is a nice pick. LA TC is quite good actually. A variety of magics as well as a good amount of strats you can do.

Yea, I tend to like armies consisting of small numbers of big troops, mostly because they rarely fall, so I don't have to worry about attrition. I'm playing MA man right now, and while I am enjoying it, I have to replinish the army much more often than I would like. Also, someone keeps dropping an arrow or two from the sky every turn and killing my stupid crones, which is highly annoying.

[thejeff]

It's not just due to extra time, but simply because you're playing other humans. The AI doesn't adapt to your tactics.
Other players will. If they know what you're going to do every time, they'll find a way to counter it, even against stronger forces.

[Torin]

I think MA Ulm is the best nation for beginners. Just a dormant pretender with all good scales.
Buy a frontline infantry with independant archers back and start building armies and forts. You can even beat impossible AI. later Summon earthpower and blade wind will make your mages useful.
A master alchemist with all the paths will allow acces to every trick in late game.

Sure this wont work in MP.

[Networkingguru]

Just finished MA Man, and I have to say, it was eye-opening. Longbowmen are great, crones suck. Wardens are absolutely one of the coolest units I've seen yet. I rean through Jotunheim with an army of 40 of these guys just stealing undefended territories. Got located by patrolling units of giants twice and slaughtered them both times. Great units, and I really did not expect that after looking at thier stats. Bards are pretty cool too, you can pretty much shut down another nation's production with them. All that being said, Mighty AI on Pythium did me in in the end. I quit playing once they reached 500% of me on all possible score graphs, no point in delaying the inevitable. Anyhow, I may give them another shot later, but they don't really fit my style too well. Good balanced units, but, with the exception of the wardens and bards (and longbowmen, of course), they don't really stand out to me in any other areas. I guess maybe that's thier advantage - no real weaknesses, just straight ahead tactics.