Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Running
 

Maybe the turn you attacked Caelum recruited a bunch of troops and they're inside? Flyers are quite good a sieging/defending castles.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Running
 

It's also possible to summon units into a fortress even after a siege has started. Having all your mages spam weak conjurations can be a good way to keep a castle standing if you're desperate. Caelum's research stalled a long time ago, though, so I kind of doubt there are any mages left in there.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Running
 

Good point. And Caelum has easy access to Call of the Winds, which gives a nice boost to defense at an affordable price. Of course if he has no mages left that won't do him any good.

This also illustrates the difference between playing to the end and going AI early. Instead of the AI suiciding its forces by trying to break a siege, a player can force their attacker to expend considerable resources to breach the walls and take the fort. In the meantime they can launch attacks against lightly defended provinces if they still have any kind of raiding potential.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Running
 

Yeah, but staying in your cap also makes you vulnerable to the tactic that you leave only one small defender, and go around the cap and conquer some more provinces. (And even if you attack this token force, your opponent now knows your current tactics, so change the way you place your troops (This is actually how I took out some of Caelums mages, few flanking forces, worked again and again. While he should have placed his troops in a far flank to prevent my troops from running around his main forces (I learned some placement tricks in a blitz long ago when my main force chased some stupid troops all over the battlefield, while a flanking force of mages blasted them to smithereens)).

Yeah, and the cap is now breached. Just piled a lot of giants at the door.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Running
 

Absolutely; hiding in forts is no way to win a war. But if the war is lost and that's all you have left it's worth making your opponent work as hard as possible to breach the walls and then storm the castle.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Running
 

Don't the birds that you get from that spell have a massive penalty to siege effectiveness? I'm pretty sure I remember hearing that somewhere.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Running
 

Right, forgot to mention that! Black hawks are ok at defending forts but horrible at sieging them. Here's some numbers from a test I ran: 32 black hawks were able to hold off 10 Str. 20 Jotuns but when the situation was reversed it required almost 140 hawks to make progress against those same 10 giants in their fort.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Running
 

Really. I had assumed that their siege and counter-siege potential were both equally abysmal, but I guess they're one of the most gem-efficient defenders after all.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Running
 

Crap! Bought the wrong commanders last turn. Wanted to buy a Jarl, for his H1, got a Herse... which is just sacred... That is what I get for trying to save gold and not buying the normal H2 priest. I feel very stupid now...

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Running
 

Hi Bootcamp, how is everybody doing? I would have really expected somebody to have cast a global by now. As most indies have been captured by now. (24 left, with a lot of them being water provinces).

I have some use for a crystal coin, anybody have one to trade? Could trade it for a Moonvine Bracelet for example.

Ps: I know it is still a long way off, but just to inform all of you guys. I'm at a lan party 15 and 16 Oct. So I don't think I will be able to do my turn. (There will be internet, but I don't think I will be logging into my mail there, nor have a lot of time to do my turn then. (I think we will be at turn 35 or something then)). Hopefully I'll remember this before the that weekend and post it again. But I will be kinda busy then (I'm one of the organizers of the party), so I would like to ask for an extension in advance.