# 502 Choosing Beta 1

[Ry Vor]

I want to tidy up the Rules Supplement and some related documentation, like the summary dossiers for all kingdoms, the brigade subjective rankings, possibly a listing of the artifacts.  It may take a few days, then they will be under Alamaze Rules and Resources.

BTW, while not done as of now, a lesser objective has been to strengthen some to the less favored artifacts, as well as introducing some brand new ones.  As Mike hinted at, the weapon artifacts are now much more powerful than in 2nd Cycle, as well as introducing four new ones, including two of Superior quality.  As I believe I posted before, we have maybe a dozen or so new sightings including many benevolent ones that can allow you to meet a Power 3 wizard, a captured Princess, a pair of Adept twins, a mated couple of Green Dragons, several mounts like Red Elk and Champion Stallions, as well as a chance at some of the customization talismen and amulets.

[IMPERIAL_TARK]

I want to tidy up the Rules Supplement and some related documentation, like the summary dossiers for all kingdoms, the brigade subjective rankings, possibly a listing of the artifacts.  It may take a few days, then they will be under Alamaze Rules and Resources.

Two things to help with Rules Supplement
1) I think you mentioned on the Forum that kingdoms get 3 points to spend for the new Order #11 but don't believe that is yet reflected in the Rules Supplement.
2) The Pirate dossier titles are not in sync. The Rules Supplement lists as: The Pirates of Avalon and Beyond while the actual Set-up I just received for the Beta lists them as: Pirates are Free: Laws are for the Sheep. I have to admit this latter one made me wince. I'm not sure Pirates and Sheep should be in the same sentence given how certain STDs came to be
A few other considerations that I've spit balled off the top of my head:
The Skull and Crossbones Pirate Confederacy
The Pirate Fleet of the Four Seas
The Shadow Armada of the Pirate Kings
Pirate Clans of the Grand Mariner Alliance
Nautical Association of the Pirate Island-States

[Jhereg]

I was in the process of changing my ESO and while looking over the list of choices I was wondering if there was any thought of adjusting them based on the changes that have occurred in the Choosing. For example getting two princes is now harder and obtaining 3 artifacts from the wild sounds like it will be much more challenging vs raising 2 P4 wizards or 2 L7 agents.

I like the new WA. Seem more formidable right from the start with better wizards (starts with P4) and lower training costs (7K). I am focused on raising some of these wizards in order to try out some of the new spells. I am especially interested in trying out the Create Time spell and the Mirror Image spell.

So far I haven't had any issue with the order entry via the new website. I do like that note within the verify order notes which tells me how many orders I have used out of my total allotment. Very helpful.

[IMPERIAL_TARK]

Don't forget to report here kingdom impressions, which is what we are really looking for here in the early turns.  Don't be shy, but again, try to focus on how the kingdom feels.
This isn't about a great secret plan, its about paving the way for the next decade.

PI

First impressions of the Pirates are very, very positive. Begin with 9 cultural traits and about a half dozen unique special abilities/advantages so there is a lot to digest but a LOT of options/perks. While I have not yet been privileged to play the UN in 2nd Cycle, I would surmise that the Pirates are a Naval-based equivalent to the UN; dispersed across all 4 seas with 5 starting PCs including a hidden capital and brimming with a cupboard full of high level agents with multiple bonuses. They are also clearly built for Artifact Hunting and can completely dominate the seas so long as they have adequate funding and if the rival Atlantians are not in the same game. If either the UN or AT are in the same game that should create some very interesting "rivals" dynamics either with a rival "mafia" or rival "armada"; heaven help the rest of the kingdoms if the PI and UN decide to work together cooperatively.

I see the Pirates being exceptionally strong in a game with Diplomacy and/or SVC where they can barter/negotiate/threaten both their exceptional agents and sea domination into payoffs from other kingdoms. Their fleets can gain them money both in peaceful times with #711 trade missions and times of war gaining huge chunks of gold for successful Sea Patrols. They also prosper from outright trades with other kingdoms netting a 25% profit. I see much of their mojo being lost in Anonymous games where their inability to exert "pressure" via diplomacy is lost. The concept of other kingdoms hiding their capital in water PCs will no longer be viable with active Pirates.

The combination of the Hidden Capital AND a Pirate Sea Cove (essentially a year-round gold-producing city that can't be affected by others) means that they don't need to gain control of a region but can grabs PCs wherever convenient but especially in water PCs that they can guard. The magic seems reasonable with both Light of the Evening Star and Bridge of Mist available from the get go especially with Foreknowledge of 2 artifacts. Grabbing the Order #11 customizations that focus on Artifact Hunting and/or Agents will just ratchet up the PI advantages here.

The bonuses to standing orders and extra orders beyond influence is a big plus too along with 5 groups instead of the standard 4.

First impression weaknesses seem to be few starting emmys, a weak military, and only one option for Companion Brigades (Hill Giants.... I'd like to see THEIR ships!).

Thoughts on other areas of potential modifications/expansions (as the GM pleases):
1) Allow the recruitment of PI kingdom brigades from any kingdom's coastal/water PC square (could even remove reinforcement schedule in exchange for this) or Mermen companions brigades (powerful in water/coast squares but disappear (die off) from group brigade list if group moves to any non-coastal/water square).
2) With the new emphasis on tactics (Flanking, Winter, etc.) include a Naval Tactics and/or Naval Blockade option available to all kingdoms with X quantity and Y quality fleets.

Excited to play them!

[Ry Vor]

In The Choosing, one kingdom of the pair will be in the game, and the other will not.  So one pair of dispersed kingdoms is Underworld or Pirates, so one of those will be in, and the other not.  The other dispersed kingdom pairing is Red Dragon or Tyrant.

The Pirates should be able to recruit Hill Giants, Wildlings, or Scorpions as Companions.  Note all Companions have three requirements:
Terrain and in the Wild;
A level of leadership in the recruiting group;
A specification of kingdom-named brigade(s), either experience, and/or numbers.  So possibly a Veteran kingdom brigade or 3 kingdom brigades of any experience.

I think Mike was able to tackle just about everything except possibly Create Time.

In general, I don't think we'll be adding new orders for awhile, likely not until a next scenario months from now.  We have a couple hundred changes already that need to be vetted.

Thanks to those who have so far provided initial feedback on your kingdom.  Hoping to hear from the others soon.

I'd throw in that some have had concern that they can't recruit Companions until turn 4 and so their kingdom brigades needed to recruit the Companions are at risk in early battles.   So, you might want to either not engage in early battles or recruit the human brigades in your regions early: Huns, Zamorans, Westmen or Northmen to protect your kingdom brigades somewhat.  Your brigades though have to have a fairly tough encounter to advance in experience, included being blooded (5%+ casualties) and not have overwhelming superiority (over 500% over opponent).

[Thudargh]

Rangers here, who can be reached at aswersh@comcast.net.  First impressions:

New Order Entry - My initial attempt to fill out my orders was, to be honest, a frustrating failure.  Things got much much better when I realized two things: First, this interface is designed to be mouse-based not keyboard based.  Once I restricted myself to only clicking, it became a very pleasant and intuitive experience.  Second, I read about needing to enter [Stop] to finalize group movement less than eight spaces - so that's why my movement orders weren't being saved before!  I think the YouTube videos Ry Vor recently posted about will be an excellent way to help folks avoid my initial experience.

I like the new incarnation of the Rangers.  2nd-Cycle RA starts off with good leaders and with some extra bonuses against dying, but the new set of cultural traits kicks that up a notch.  Or maybe just seeing the traits laid out helped me realized how Aragorn-esque the Rangers are.  I think I'm going to have to see how heroic my peeps can be.  Oh, and get some mammoths.  I need Aragorn riding into battle on a mammoth. 

[Ry Vor]

I of course, have various influences in shaping kingdoms.  Some are obvious, those impressions that shaped me as well as our players, like yeah, the Rangers are kind of like Aragorn leading Rohan.  D&D, history, dark fantasy, Dune, and good historical fiction.  For example, Steven Pressfields "Last of the Amazons" was the basis of my take on what I hope/think is a fairly unique position in PBEM or strategy gaming.  About every comedian admits they steal jokes, etc, and so as I say above I have, but I have never really stolen game elements and mechanics like they have been stolen from me.  Phil had the game in NC when that was going on: I wouldn't take it lying down.  On the other hand, I think just sticking to the kingdoms, the Ancient Ones and Demon Princes are my own, possibly the Lizard King, I've never seen Gnomes getting much respect, Pirates or Underworld for that matter don't seem to pop-up outside Alamaze.  Mainly though, it is the mechanics of Alamaze gameplay that are most copied.

[Drogo]

Lizardmen can be reached at j02464@gmail.com

I don't see in the rules how many 'points' you start with for order 11. 3 points was mentioned but I'd like confirmation that that is correct.

[unclemike]

Lizardmen can be reached at j02464@gmail.com

I don't see in the rules how many 'points' you start with for order 11.  3 points was mentioned but I'd like confirmation that that is correct.

It's 3 but you could always just click on the Verify Orders button and see if you exceeded the limit.

[Ruingurth]

Hi,

Just completed my first turn with the new order system. Was confusing at first then the more I used it the smoother it went. A couple of proposals:

1-When moving using the drop down window it would be smother if only the hexes that you can move to appear instead of the whole map. for example if my 1an starts at ZZ only YZ YY znd ZY appear as choices when I choose to move to ZY the next drop down window will only have yz, yy, yx, zx, zz and STOP.

2-Same issue with recruiting new brigades the only options should be what brigades can be recruited. for example recruiting out of a southern sands pop as Ancient Ones the only options should be: HU-Huns ZA-Zamorans

Also one question-is there any capital override when recruiting? Can I recruit a Northman brigade in my Southern Sands Capital?