12-14-2015, 04:49 PM (This post was last modified: 12-14-2015, 06:57 PM by Ry Vor.)
Post here comments on your experience with #503 -
The Choosing 2nd Beta
Abbr Kingdom Ruled By
AM The Proud Matriarchy of the Amazon Warriors Imperial Tark
AT The Mythical Civilization of the Atlantians Thudargh
BL The Dark Skies of the Black Dragons Runigruth
DA The Onyx Imperium of the Dark Elves Whitewolf
DU The Varied Followers of the Great Druid HeadHoncho
DW The Dwarven Lords of the Talking Mountains Son of Conan
GN The Great Gnomish Bastions of Alchemy Archangel
IL The Illusionist, for Whom Dimensions are Limitless The Gray Mouser
NE The Necromancer, Granter of Eternal Damnation Jumpingfist
NO The Nomads are the Desert Storms Canticar
TY The Domination of The Tyrant of Gor Vball Michael
UN The Shadow Brotherhood of the Underworld Jhereg
12-14-2015, 08:53 PM (This post was last modified: 12-14-2015, 08:55 PM by VballMichael.)
Ok, here is my preliminary assessment of the Tyrant, which I received today.
First, wow. Lots of traits, groups, troops, pop centers, special things like ESO bonus, etc.... Truly a kingdom to be feared and a kingdom that can vie for the podium.
Second, wow, not concentrated anywhere. In 501, I think 3 Tyrant groups were able to meet and combine at a city in 5 (my groups are much further apart than those were apparently).
In fact, I am suspicious in the region of my capital. Ouch.
Ok, so, like Rick keeps saying, don't think like 2nd cycle. What are my strengths, what are my best attributes, and what should my strategy be? This will take some thinking.
I am thinking one way to go is maybe a military below-the-radar kind of kingdom, extort a couple of pop centers in each of a few regions, and save regional control for a later fight.
All right then, time for this non-diplomacy player to start writing emails to other players to work out deals .
By the way, I can be reached at vballmichael@gmail.com for those who wish to start a dialogue.
First impression of the Amazons is very favorable. They are a very well balanced faction (jack of all trades). Starting with 9 cultural traits is strong but they also gain 3 special abilities (Summer Attack, Flanking Attack, +20% food in Plains PCs) and a free starting temple. They can hire 4 different Companion brigades (I do find it amusing that I have to pay my Ape troops... can't I just paint some lead with gold paint?!). While I thought that the Pirates were great at being Artifact Hunters, they don't hold a candle to the Amazons (except for Unusual Sightings in water squares). Not only do the Amazons start with the Adventurer Trait, they have better military leaders, but also start with BOTH the Wolf and Eagle familiars AND the Riders trait giving their groups +2 movement points and their Patrols get 32 move points. Weaknesses at first glance are a very small emissary court (though lots of agents), poor movement outside of the Plains, and not getting the Teleport spells until VERY late (only Teleport Division at one level past max).
You do NOT want to fight the Amazons in the Plains/Desert especially during the Summer Season unless your kingdom also has the Rider trait and/or you have a Warlord. For some reason, I would have thought the Amazons would dominate in jungle (marsh and/or forest like the DA) given their legend lore but a horse affinity works too and will be very practical given that Plains is dominant.
Having that secret capital is really nice, though the Pirates one being in water is especially sweet.
Kingdoms will want to swap/trade/sell their Plains PCs to the Amazons in exchange for non-Plains PCs and favorable food trades. And if you want an Artifacts tracked down on land, look no further than the Amazonians!
The additional information in 3rd Cycle is so vast and with so many more options/changes, I will definitely want a bit of a slower pace for my first few games (nothing faster than 2x week) as there is just so much to absorb especially if a Diplomacy game.
The Amazons can be reached at: bschrade@emporia.edu
Book your Artifact hunting requests now! All ladies pay no cover charge!
(UN) Well first impressions.... With 9 traits and 6 special abilities and then with the 3 customization features there is a lot to absorb. The traits and special abilities all tie together nicely to provide a true underworld like feel. Even with all that the kingdom will need time to develop. With kingdoms starting out with more agents I am curious to see how that affects the UN's income. Will there be less purchasing of agents or more raising of agents or will it all cancel out.
This kingdom looks like it will require a lot of diplomacy to full utilize all its capablties so to that end... The UN can be reached at Scotland.b3@gmail.com
This may be a dumb question, but that has never stopped me before.
Are gold and food production bonuses already accounted for on the turn sheet for next turn's production? Like an extra 10% for Industrious or the 20% food in Plains for those Amazons.
So, if I turn over a plains town to the Amazons, will his turn show a bigger production number for that, but then lowered by not having the Industrious trait?
Seems like it would all be in there, just making sure.
Thanks
(12-14-2015, 08:53 PM)VballMichael Wrote: Ok, here is my preliminary assessment of the Tyrant, which I received today.
First, wow. Lots of traits, groups, troops, pop centers, special things like ESO bonus, etc.... Truly a kingdom to be feared and a kingdom that can vie for the podium.
Second, wow, not concentrated anywhere. In 501, I think 3 Tyrant groups were able to meet and combine at a city in 5 (my groups are much further apart than those were apparently).
In fact, I am suspicious in the region of my capital. Ouch.
Ok, so, like Rick keeps saying, don't think like 2nd cycle. What are my strengths, what are my best attributes, and what should my strategy be? This will take some thinking.
I am thinking one way to go is maybe a military below-the-radar kind of kingdom, extort a couple of pop centers in each of a few regions, and save regional control for a later fight.
All right then, time for this non-diplomacy player to start writing emails to other players to work out deals .
By the way, I can be reached at vballmichael@gmail.com for those who wish to start a dialogue.
Thanks early responders, will try to jot a few notes.
All kingdoms should be Tolerant in their capital's region, barring a trait or special ability.
The setups of PC's generally have not changed significantly from 2nd Cycle, outside of the hidden capitals, the additional sightings, and the special locations like Druid's Grove. So, if you are not the High Elves but have a PC in Oakendell, it might be at AA as easily as at GG. In such cases (at AA), a negotiation for an exchange of PC's with the High Elves might be sensible. I think they'd like a PC at AA or in the vicinity.
I'll try to keep my own thinking on kingdom potential strategy to myself, unless asked directly.
Thanks VBM for recognizing the new nuances, which will take some turns to see how it all plays out and hopefully get everyone's neurons firing and making new synapses connections.
Like most of those who have posted already, I will have a big learning curve. My initial impression is that the Kingdom build nicely depicts what I would expect from Nomad tribes.
The fact that the NO food and gold production are not affected by the Summer season is great and will be very handy on turns 11 - 13. The Hidden Oasis on turn 4 will be a great boost to production.
With a 5th group, lots of cheap recruit able troops and the Healing trait the NO might be a replacement for the TR but with better support in magic, emmies, and covert activities.
I'm thinking the Nomad Tribes will be swarming over the Alamaze landscape soon.
The Nomads can be reached at gkmetty@yahoo.com
SUPPORT - there is an issue with the 503 Nomad entry in the new order system. There are extra characters after the Nomad selection in the game selection drop down box. This must keep the system from recognizing the entities for the kingdom as none of my emmies or groups are populated, so I cant enter orders.
First impression of the Amazons is very favorable. They are a very well balanced faction (jack of all trades). Starting with 9 cultural traits is strong but they also gain 3 special abilities (Summer Attack, Flanking Attack, +20% food in Plains PCs) and a free starting temple. They can hire 4 different Companion brigades (I do find it amusing that I have to pay my Ape troops... can't I just paint some lead with gold paint?!). While I thought that the Pirates were great at being Artifact Hunters, they don't hold a candle to the Amazons (except for Unusual Sightings in water squares). Not only do the Amazons start with the Adventurer Trait, they have better military leaders, but also start with BOTH the Wolf and Eagle familiars AND the Riders trait giving their groups +2 movement points and their Patrols get 32 move points. Weaknesses at first glance are a very small emissary court (though lots of agents), poor movement outside of the Plains, and not getting the Teleport spells until VERY late (only Teleport Division at one level past max).
You do NOT want to fight the Amazons in the Plains/Desert especially during the Summer Season unless your kingdom also has the Rider trait and/or you have a Warlord. For some reason, I would have thought the Amazons would dominate in jungle (marsh and/or forest like the DA) given their legend lore but a horse affinity works too and will be very practical given that Plains is dominant.
Having that secret capital is really nice, though the Pirates one being in water is especially sweet.
Kingdoms will want to swap/trade/sell their Plains PCs to the Amazons in exchange for non-Plains PCs and favorable food trades. And if you want an Artifacts tracked down on land, look no further than the Amazonians!
The additional information in 3rd Cycle is so vast and with so many more options/changes, I will definitely want a bit of a slower pace for my first few games (nothing faster than 2x week) as there is just so much to absorb especially if a Diplomacy game.
The Amazons can be reached at: bschrade@emporia.edu
Book your Artifact hunting requests now! All ladies pay no cover charge!
A good opening perspective on the Amazons, I believe, by this upstart Imperial Tark. The exchange of PC's ideas is a good ice breaker for the Amazons in diplomacy.
Apes. They were probably first on the last cut list, but I've had requests before, for them, and then with the popularity of the new Planet of the Apes movies, I well...(Rick is a commercial sellout!) We'll see how it goes. Generally, they are available to the kingdoms more in tune with nature. The gold cost of course doesn't go to pay the Apes, but for their upkeep: their armor, weapons, handlers, trainers, stable boys, etc.
I agree, there are several kingdoms that have great artifact hunting advantages, and the Amazons, Pirates, Rangers, and perhaps a few others, are among them. With the improvements in some of the less popular artifacts, the big change in weapon artifacts, and maybe 20 new sightings, it is potentially a viable strategy for a winning kingdom to go that route.
I have a general question about group movement, with the riders trait, patrols get 32 movement points. Patrols could easily reach 40 or 50 movement points, Champion stallions would add 7 movement points, force march would add 5, not to mention the Speed spell.
Is group movement still limited to a maximum of 8 squares?
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