04-30-2021, 05:04 PM
In a post today, Rick idly wondered by Krynn doesn't 'get the love' and is so often picked last. I know it's pretty far down my list, so I thought I'd share, though I'm not sure if much can be done to fix it.
First, let me highlight the advantages. You can recruit Paladins/KOS in there - that's good for a military kingdom, especially one that doesn't want to be in the center of the action. You've got the back of the map at your side. Plus, you star with two companion brigades, so that can give you a nice early boost. You also start on two seas with two fleets in each. The city is known, so you can (maybe) move into it on turn one. But...
To me what kills Krynn is the length. I think that this was attempted to be overcome by putting stallions in the first two groups, which can be useful in the early turns when you are looking for PCs. But if you are the average kingdom with only four groups, only one is really going to be immediately useful as you can split it off into a patrol. The other is going to be stuck with brigades, at least for the first turn. And keep in mind, Krynn is 16 squares long! That's way longer than the next longest. If your capital starts in the south, you can't even reach the city in one go and even if you have agents at level 4, large parts of the region are going to be out of your range for searching for PCs. And while you do have two seas, there's a pretty good chance that you won't have a PC in one of the four squares that are on The Sorrows, giving you no chance to trade there. It's even possible that you won't have one on the Sea of the Forgotten, though with seven squares, your odds are much better. I've never taken Krynn and had NO water based PCs, but I've certainly had times when I only was represented on one of the seas. The size makes it hard to defend, if you are military kingdom. Somebody hits you in the south, it takes you a couple of turns to get your troops down there and meanwhile they are now hitting you in the north. The dragons don't have this problem, but anybody taking the dragons would likely much rather have Zanthia right next door. In short, my opinion of Krynn is:
1. It's best suited for a military kingdom but...
2. It's hard to defend for a military kingdom.
3. It can potentially take several turns longer than most regions to gain control.
So if I were to suggest any changes to improve the place, what would it be? The biggest would be to move the city of Sirocco to MA. That spot can be reached from every square in Krynn, so you can be sure of getting there on turn 1 from your capital. Plus, it's a desert spot and there's no major cities that start in the desert. That might make it attractive to somebody wanting to play the Nomads, who would be a decent fit for Krynn. I'd play the Nomads in Krynn under that circumstance. If you know you can move your capital to a city (a smart move if your capital is not hidden and there's no water town), then MA is a good place to be able to defend both the north and the south of the region. To sweeten the pot just a little bit, I might also make one of the starting companion brigades a Veteran one.
Does anybody else have thoughts on this region and what can be done to make it get some more love?
First, let me highlight the advantages. You can recruit Paladins/KOS in there - that's good for a military kingdom, especially one that doesn't want to be in the center of the action. You've got the back of the map at your side. Plus, you star with two companion brigades, so that can give you a nice early boost. You also start on two seas with two fleets in each. The city is known, so you can (maybe) move into it on turn one. But...
To me what kills Krynn is the length. I think that this was attempted to be overcome by putting stallions in the first two groups, which can be useful in the early turns when you are looking for PCs. But if you are the average kingdom with only four groups, only one is really going to be immediately useful as you can split it off into a patrol. The other is going to be stuck with brigades, at least for the first turn. And keep in mind, Krynn is 16 squares long! That's way longer than the next longest. If your capital starts in the south, you can't even reach the city in one go and even if you have agents at level 4, large parts of the region are going to be out of your range for searching for PCs. And while you do have two seas, there's a pretty good chance that you won't have a PC in one of the four squares that are on The Sorrows, giving you no chance to trade there. It's even possible that you won't have one on the Sea of the Forgotten, though with seven squares, your odds are much better. I've never taken Krynn and had NO water based PCs, but I've certainly had times when I only was represented on one of the seas. The size makes it hard to defend, if you are military kingdom. Somebody hits you in the south, it takes you a couple of turns to get your troops down there and meanwhile they are now hitting you in the north. The dragons don't have this problem, but anybody taking the dragons would likely much rather have Zanthia right next door. In short, my opinion of Krynn is:
1. It's best suited for a military kingdom but...
2. It's hard to defend for a military kingdom.
3. It can potentially take several turns longer than most regions to gain control.
So if I were to suggest any changes to improve the place, what would it be? The biggest would be to move the city of Sirocco to MA. That spot can be reached from every square in Krynn, so you can be sure of getting there on turn 1 from your capital. Plus, it's a desert spot and there's no major cities that start in the desert. That might make it attractive to somebody wanting to play the Nomads, who would be a decent fit for Krynn. I'd play the Nomads in Krynn under that circumstance. If you know you can move your capital to a city (a smart move if your capital is not hidden and there's no water town), then MA is a good place to be able to defend both the north and the south of the region. To sweeten the pot just a little bit, I might also make one of the starting companion brigades a Veteran one.
Does anybody else have thoughts on this region and what can be done to make it get some more love?
