Newb Impressions

[thejeff]

Honestly, for me the micromanagement you refer to: recruiting, shipping new recruits to the front, default orders, etc is swamped by the micromanagement you'd always have to handle personally. Scripting a dozen mages for the next major battle. Rescripting them to take advantage of newly learned spells, or just for an expected change in opposition. Forging the right dozen items for next turns thugs and SCs. Making sure I have enough of the right boosters on tap to cast the spells I expect to have researched next turn.

Even in a big game, it's 5 minutes at most to recruit and schlep units around. I'll often spend an hour or more on a late game turn. Assigning orders and positions takes longer, but you'd want to change the defaults anyway.

The part of the micromanagement that you can't handle with macros is the part that keeps me out of any big MP games. It's also a big part of the depth and complexity I love about the game. This does frustrate me, but there is no easy fix for it.

[Mightypeon]

Concerning the AI, it appears that Ashdod can be quite a challenge on impossible, the extra design points mean awesome scales, and there will be a lot of giants too.

What would be a good midgame counter to an insane amount of giants for MA Ulm? Destruction? Clockworks? Using Crushers as a "tank" and Magma erupting the heck out of them? Petryfy?

I have one field army (with a bunch of guardians and Black knights, backed up by 15 Smiths) that can deal with the Giant hordes, but my upkeep couldnt allow another such army, especially since Black Knights need critical mass to do things.
My other armies are a bit out of position

It also seems that my enemies sometimes take my castles without fighting for them...