Dom3: Revenge of the Den

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 2:03 am

K wrote:If you have enough gems for that, why don't you just summon a bunch of wights or banes?

Lack of familiarity? Of course, my entire problem is that he's using massive priest spam to destroy my undead hordes. He has so many that in his army of 190, they are the visible troop type. Are wights and/or banes really an answer to that level of nonsense?

Even if they are, I no longer have any labs that aren't underwater.

K · Post by K » Sun Mar 06, 2011 2:58 am

angelfromanotherpin wrote:
K wrote:If you have enough gems for that, why don't you just summon a bunch of wights or banes?
Lack of familiarity? Of course, my entire problem is that he's using massive priest spam to destroy my undead hordes. He has so many that in his army of 190, they are the visible troop type. Are wights and/or banes really an answer to that level of nonsense?

Even if they are, I no longer have any labs that aren't underwater.

Well, don't underestimate the combination of high MR and HPs for blunting piles of H1s and H2s.

Hell, if you have decent gem reserves, then Shadowblast should be your best friend. If may cost you 50 gems, but it'll eat that priest army for sure.

Rabelais · Post by **Rabelais** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 4:50 am

Shadowblast is a lovely spell.

jimbojones1971 · Post by **jimbojones1971** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 6:54 am

Gnosticism Is A Hoot wrote:An ambivalent turn for Caelum. This is going to be a long war...

Abysia seem to be the masters of tactical maneuvering - I just can't catch Rabelais to save my nation! Oh well, makes for a memorable game I have to say

Rabelais · Post by **Rabelais** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 11:17 pm

I wish there had been a delay. it turns out most of my research last turn went into a useless category as I forgot to check it carefully. This is on top of some other research errors I made earlier in the game mean I'm kinda screwed. Which means my elephant counter will not be available in time. Which sucks because it would have made for a much more interesting battle.

So I dont like my odds. On the other hand, it's just a game.

I still think Caelum would have been better off taking half of Utgard for free and then consolidating rapidly enough to fight whichever eastern gem factory looked likely to come out on top. I admire his willingness to help Jimbo, but it was a mistake.

Now even if I lose they will have lost so many resources (Jimbo, next time don't bring your research force out to fight, when you do all I have to do is delay to win) that they will be behind the curve.

Maybe if Caelum beats Agartha to the chalice they can pull it out, but my empire is large and surprisingly crappy, it will take too long to make useful for midgame/endgame war.

Kudos to Mari and Ermor for their epic thematic fight.

Now back to cobblering.

Zinegata · Post by **Zinegata** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 11:29 am

BNN Update

Akesta Falls. Chelmian Army Closes on T'ien Ch'i Capital

BNN Bards have confirmed that the Chelmian Army was victorious at the second battle of Akesta. Despite gathering an enormous cavalry army of nearly a hundred horsemen to face the Chelmian troops, TC forces were unable to stop the Chelmian advance.

The Chelmian Army once again confirmed its magical superiority by unleashing the power of its Wind-Guided Flaming Arrows. A witness reported that the arrows were so numerous that it was as though lava was pouring down on the TC troops. Unconfirmed accounts say the flaming arrows could be seen as far away as the T'ien Ch'i capital, only a short distance away from Akesta.

Casualties were catastrophic for the TC side. All of their militia and two thirds of their regular forces were wiped out during the battle, including both of their Khans. Even worse, the few surviving horsemen had been scattered into three different provinces.

Lord Warden Berthwald refused to comment on Chelmian losses, but anonymous sources described them as "relatively light".

The Chelmian Council of Knights have announced that they have returned the body of the enemy Khan to his homeland, along with a diplomatic note urging TC to pursue peace. Thus far, TC has refused to reply to the Chelmian overtures.

----

Were you at Akesta? Send a letter to one of our bards now and you could be part of our new "My Report" segment - another first from the world's leading new network, BNN.

Gnosticism Is A Hoot · Mon Mar 07, 2011 1:28 pm

So I feel really dumb. I only just realised that mages can use gems to cast higher-level spells than they could normally manage.

Suddenly, lightning-spam looks a lot easier to generate.

EDIT: New turn. Oh, fuck. Congratulations to Rabelais for skillful maneuvering.

TheNotSoEvilNecromancer · Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:27 am

Fucking Bogus again! Why can't you pick on someone else's forts!?

Does he stay in the province forever or disappear after a while?

Shiritai · Post by **Shiritai** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:27 am

Caelum: So that's why you kept that province indie. I must say, having a militia disposal device is quite handy.

Abysia: I see your indie archers are overly fond of close combat. Mine had that same problem. What's up with that?

Everyone else: How have I not been dom-killed by now?

Akula · Post by **Akula** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:27 am

Woah, there goes Caelum's mammoths and god.

jimbojones1971 · Post by **jimbojones1971** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:08 am

So, game just got real interesting all of a sudden. Now we just need Atlantis to rise from the waves again we'll be in business

TheNotSoEvilNecromancer: What's up with Bogus and your forts?

TheNotSoEvilNecromancer · Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:19 am

Not just my forts, my newly built fort literally the turn after they are completed. It's like he sees the giant skull banners everywhere and just assumes I'm the bad guy!

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:38 am

TheNotSoEvilNecromancer wrote:It's like he sees the giant skull banners everywhere and just assumes I'm the bad guy!

Well, I don't see any rat anus banners around.

Zinegata · Post by **Zinegata** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 3:51 am

Akula wrote:Woah, there goes Caelum's mammoths and god.

Wow. That battle made Akesta look like a skirmish.

Akula · Post by **Akula** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:33 am

I want to say something about army composition with mammoths: Mammoths are an auxiliary force only after initial expansion. If you try and make an army out of them, it will end painfully. Three reasons: 1) Tramplers cannot hold a line, this means that one mammoth with often face attacks from 2 or 3 squares of infantry on its own, which will end with it dead. 2) Mammoths have poor moral, which means that when they start falling, they start routing. 3) the shock value of tramplers decreases as the size enemy's blocking army increases, the more infantry they have to wade through, the more likely they get separated, exacerbating point 1.

They supposedly work well with gift of flight and haste+attack archers or rearmost orders.

Zinegata · Post by **Zinegata** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:50 am

So moral of the story is... use air-dropped Mammoths?

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:21 am

*is infinitely envious of people who can play Dominions*
pix please!

TheNotSoEvilNecromancer · Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:45 am

Starmaker wrote:*is infinitely envious of people who can play Dominions*
pix please!

Is it an issue of money or complexity that's the problem?

If it's the former then well, so it goes. They have sales every once in a while but those are generally only about five bucks off a normally $50 game. Not sure why they kept the same price for so long, probably an exclusivity thing.

The latter though I can help you with that. This is currently my first actual multi-player game of Dominions 3 and I've managed to survive and thrive as of turn 32. What helped me was reading through LPs on Something Awful and the dominions wiki. They go turn by turn and explain what and why a player is taking a specific action.

Here are some ones I've read:

Pantokrator: Fondly regard creation. Let's Play Dominions 3 some more! Still Ongoing.

Dominions 3: The Elephantine Armies of Mrs. Butterworth Over.

Dominions 3 Newbie Game! Baby giants, hippies in training and 50k virgins Loooong over.

After that I suggest playing a few games against the AI to get a feel for the game and the different nations/what works against which unit, etc.

Once you are confident in your ability to crush the AI try your luck against real humans so that when they inevitably go AI after losing a single battle you're fully prepared to handle the situation.

Gnosticism Is A Hoot · Tue Mar 08, 2011 11:27 am

Akula wrote:I want to say something about army composition with mammoths: Mammoths are an auxiliary force only after initial expansion. If you try and make an army out of them, it will end painfully. Three reasons: 1) Tramplers cannot hold a line, this means that one mammoth with often face attacks from 2 or 3 squares of infantry on its own, which will end with it dead. 2) Mammoths have poor moral, which means that when they start falling, they start routing. 3) the shock value of tramplers decreases as the size enemy's blocking army increases, the more infantry they have to wade through, the more likely they get separated, exacerbating point 1.

They supposedly work well with gift of flight and haste+attack archers or rearmost orders.

This is the part where I publicly say something like 'oh, of course, I knew that. I don't care anyway, because I'm moving into my mid-game and I don't need mammoths anymore', while privately, I weep for my lost, lovely pachyderms.

Zinegata · Post by **Zinegata** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 4:24 pm

I'm sad the Mammoths are gone too. They were cute.

Ikeren · Post by **Ikeren** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:00 pm

@Star: Their demo is actually surprisingly decent, except it cuts out around 30-40 turns, and limits you to about 1/2 the early age races, and research level 4. But still; it'll give you a taste until you can get the real thing.

K · Post by K » Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:30 pm

Anyone have a Ring of Regeneration they can send this turn?

Rabelais · Post by **Rabelais** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:46 pm

Well color me surprised.

The funny thing is I had EVERYONE (i.e. no hammers used, several "break siegers" didnt) research last turn to get thau4, for prison of fire. And then all my anathemants cast rage, how silly. I guess that is why they made the spell cost a gem in CBM, so that the AI regains its mind. I did get a few hellbind hearts off but mostly that just meant I got trampled extra when they routed. Dumbassery. Oh well. Imagine what would have happened if I had done my logistics competently and had soul slay and a dozen extra mages present.

The thing that amuses me is, with the "victory" except for killing his god, I mostly did Caelum a favor by reducing his upkeep of the now marginal utility Snuffulupaguses.

(Edit: except he had no retreat territory, Ouch. Suggest you coordinate with you ally so you know which of his provinces to airdrop for a guaranteed exit in case disaster strikes. I've learned that the hard way, you have my genuine sympathy)

Oh, and I had a fire burn down a lab.

Still a much better result than I deserved. Now Utgard can do the mop up.

Anyone who wishes to congratulate me can send earth gems and cash, as usual. I will be needing them, if I survive Round 2.

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 8:40 pm

TheNotSoEvilNecromancer wrote:The latter though I can help you with that.

Pantokrator: Fondly regard creation. Let's Play Dominions 3 some more! Still Ongoing.
(...)

Yeah, it's the stupidity issue, Thanks for the sources and the encouragement!

Also: Secular Humanism. That thread is gold.

Ikeren wrote:@Star: Their demo is actually surprisingly decent, except it cuts out around 30-40 turns, and limits you to about 1/2 the early age races, and research level 4. But still; it'll give you a taste until you can get the real thing.

It's that I'm just too dumb to win against the AI unless I'm playing two allied nations in hotseat. I got the game at a sale before they had the direct download version and have been playing it from time to time only to find out that, surprise, I didn't magically become a better player between attempts. Even then, it's totally worth the money.

Ikeren · Post by **Ikeren** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 11:33 pm

Oh, when you said you were envious of people who could play dominions 3, I thought you were referring to cost.

Uh...start with easy AI and a strong nation; Frank recommends MA man, which is probably a good suggestion, then start with real slow/careful turns, and read guides while waiting for the turns to run? The game is ridiculously complex, but even then beating a normal AI seemed to be possible as I played through my very first game; though that was with EA Marveni, which may be stronger than man?

I'm envious of people with legit CD keys. I bought a used copy off EBAY for 15$. Got the manual and it had a CD key in it (a page in, presumably where it should be?), but that CD key had been posted all over the internet, getting it banned. What type of person buys a game then posts the CD key everywhere? My guess is that this particular copy of dominions 3 has been passed around 5-10 times on EBay and other sales sites, with each person recouping their cost. The manual looks really well worn...

So I get to play as much as I want unpatched, or if I patch to 3.26, I can play until I save and exit, and when I relaunch, I get the "windows fade" CD key error. Which truth be told, is relatively small a hinderance; but we'll see if I manage to figure out a way to play an online game.