Review of The Choosing Kingdom Balance

[Hawk_]

DU, WA, AM, SO, PI, UN, AT, DE, IL, AN

I think that is all of them.

CI,DW, SA, BL, RD, TY, DA, NO, GN, HA, RA all do not.  I dont remember on LI or EL but I dont think they do.

One thought on the halfling would be to give them a power 5 wizard to start with but leave their research level at 3.  After all, where is Bilbo without Mithrandir?  Kind of like the Tyrant setup.

I think a hidden capitol for the HA would be a good idea also.  Probably more needed for the halfling than it is for the WA and SO since they can quickly get summon death and dome.

[Devildog]

It seems to me that the black dragon needs improvement. I don't say that from experience. Just that I never see anyone choose them over sacred order

[Titus]

How does the Dwarf not have Mastery in the Mountains?

[Jumpingfist]

How does the Dwarf not have Mastery in the Mountains?

Dwarf has supremacy.  It was just left out in the dossiers.  DW actually gets more than a 50% boost to PC defenses in the mountains.

[Lord Diamond]

How does the Dwarf not have Mastery in the Mountains?

Dwarf has supremacy.  It was just left out in the dossiers.  DW actually gets more than a 50% boost to PC defenses in the mountains.

My math shows a 62.5% boost. One of my towns starts with 10,002 and has an adjusted defense of 16,003. Crazy.

[unclemike]

How does the Dwarf not have Mastery in the Mountains?

Dwarf has supremacy.  It was just left out in the dossiers.  DW actually gets more than a 50% boost to PC defenses in the mountains.

My math shows a 62.5% boost. One of my towns starts with 10,002 and has an adjusted defense of 16,003. Crazy.

LD, it's actually 60% bonus. Since it's a mountain town, the DW gets the following pc defense bonuses:

10% Industrious
10% Siege Engineering
10% Stalwart
30% Supremacy in Mountainous terrain
---
60% total bonus to pc defense

If your DW gains control of the region, you'll get another 10% bonus on top of that for 70% total!!!

To JF (and others), even though the kingdom dossiers may not display the information, the turn 0 kingdom setups do show the terrain level for your kingdom. It's actually stated in two locations: (1) under Special Rules right below where traits are listed (stated as Terrain Adeptness for your kingdom), and (2) under Terrain Combat Adjustment right after the reinforcement schedule. That bonus applies to your groups fighting in such favored terrain as well as a bonus to pc defense.

[Lord Diamond]

Until now, I wasn't aware that Supremacy gave you a 30% defense bonus. Nor was I aware of the 10% bonus for having control. I don't know how I missed it, but I am constantly learning how to play this game.

My math was off a bit. I need to recalibrate my calculator.

[Titus]

Well then I am wrong because I did not see it. The DW is a powerful defensive force, in the mountains.

[unclemike]

Ranger

I'm playing the RA in a game right now and even though it's still early, I think the RA needs some help militarily-wise regarding companion troop types.

The reason why I selected the RA was to have an elite military force that's mobile and can take advantage of various special attacks like Flanking or Hold At All Costs (though I do miss Thermopylae Stand). But after looking at the companion troop types again, the Ranger only has three: Mammoths, Wood Elves, and Rohirrim.

Wood Elves are ok regarding their archery for a quick and light attack and Rohirrim for their flanking attack but Mammoths? Mammoths are ok for the Cimmerians and Dwarves but are they truly a good fit for the Ranger? Hill Giants may be a better choice since they are more woodland-like in nature than Mammoths.

Including other companion types would help round out the Ranger's elite military force, maybe adding Centaurs to take advantage of the Ranger's flanking attack, or Sprites that can fly for scouting, or Ents for some brutal fighting in the forest. But limiting the Ranger to only 3 companion types is a bit of a disappointment that I didn't expect.

More importantly, I don't know how the Ranger will be able to defend himself in the early going against a RD or TY early offensive. Against the TY, the RA can recruit a bunch of Wood Elves and develop wizards for light attacks (missile/magic only or you'll die against the TY's ogres/trolls) but they really don't have anything that can stop the RD.

So for my brief review of the RA, I would say the Ranger needs some help in the early part of the game against an aggressive RD/TY but may do better in the mid-game if they develop L6 wizards to help their weak military choices. It really shouldn't be that way where the RA is dependent upon wizard development to survive but due to the few companion types available, they'll have to rely on something else than just their military towards the mid and late portions of the game.

Anyway, that's my impression so far of the Ranger in my game...

[wfrankenhoff]

Just a quick note on the dragons: it doesn't make sense to me that the dragons are--basically--military kingdoms. but can be out-recruited by any other kingdom in the game. Three companion brigades/turn is brutal for them, especially when most of those recruits are going to be great bats (some of the weakest companions around) Only way to maximize the WY component is to split into multiple groups, which then lowers their individual combat power since there are only so many BL/RD pure brigades to go around. Not an issue early on obviously, but by mid-game almost every other kingdom has equally strong groups via summons/companions (some of which are better than WY) and normal recruitment, plus higher-level mages.

I'm not advocating a return to the unbridled recruitment of 2nd cycle, but perhaps one of their special abilities would be to recruit double the normal limit (i.e. six brigades/turn)?

On a BL specific note: it's tough for them to start in 5 since it seems there are usually a fair number of pop centres in the water which are inaccessible to their groups. Between the BL or SA in 5, it's a no-brainer: SA every time since they have better intangibles (aside from mages); stronger kingdom brigades and can out-recruit the BL by a long shot.