Re: STACKERS, newbie game, (started)
 

Ok... More ideas on combating BoT:

1. I just learned that boots/elixirs won't stop your units from getting afflictions from BoT, so you can add one of the following if your units get diseased.

1) Shroud of the Battle Saint if you have an N4 or higher bless effect.
2) Ring of Regeneration
3) Lycantropos' Amulet: I'm not sure what effect the transformation has on afflictions/age, but as long as you're not planning to take the warlock into battle (e.g. blood hunters, researchers, ritual casters, forgers), you can use it. If the transformation has a significant effect on aging/afflictions this would be better than the ring.

You may get stacks and stacks of afflictions on the units provided what was said earlier that you cannot simply die of old age while wearing boots/elixir but that you can die from a disease affliction.

Gift of Health or the Chalice can fix the afflictions provided you can cast it.

I dislike the removal of particular strategies in general. People complain about them after the fact, never before. In the attempt to fix the problem, you will only become a better strategist. Be creative--even if it's an "obvious" ***** strategy. (Interesting that there is a pretender called the "_itch" queen, but I can't use that word in a forum post).

Another thing I do with diseased blood mages requires a bit of micromanagement:

Send them against an enemy PD or indie province, all the way in the back with 1 slave each and cast Blood Heal or Leech depending on your research level then retreat.

Re: STACKERS, newbie game, (started)
 

Additionally, my last turn approaches quickly. We have dealt a nasty blow to the Jotes and are happy with the performance of our armies against them. Jotunheim has a lot of castles--most of them mine since Man has a prolific castle growth rate.

I have not given up on MA Man. They are one of my favorite themed nations since Dominions 2. I'm sure they can do more than I have done with them. I do think, however, that one tweak would make them more formidable:

Adding 1 book of Air magic to the Mother of Avalon will produce an array of units that can cast Thunderstrikes or possibly a 3rd random (AN) book with maybe 50% chance would be cool. Possibly just widening the array out a bit giving them 50(AN) x 2 and 100(AN).


Adding Death as a possible book choice for Crones random books.

Re: STACKERS, newbie game, (started)
 

I agree with the comment above about "the jury is still out" on if I'm a noob or not. I don't have any idea of how I rank. My early success was due mostly to being next to AI player. I assumed everyone would see R'leyh propaganda for what it was.

I am losing quite a few commanders, but I want to keep playing just to see what R'leyh does, so I can play better next time.

Re: STACKERS, newbie game, (started)
 

well, what I do in this game will be much harder to do in order games, as the map would be very different and most other games won't be in vanilla, so clams would also be out the window. but yeah, I do have some plans for you, and I guess you will be able to learn something from them...

Re: STACKERS, newbie game, (started)
 

Learn something? Gee your a piece of work! I'll tell you what ive learned bigshot

If i want to play a game that you are not in then i'll play a non newb game. You make it you point to let us in on the secret that you know how to play, so take on some real competition.

I'm in two games at present - enough for now. But he next one i join will be a regular players game... why? because i don't think its good that new players to this great game should be used as experiments for better players.

You on the other hand, a craven individual intent of bashing the newb to inflate your ego - well, what an unfortunate set of circumstances that new talent has to first wade through a tiresome set of sermons from a tiresome braggard such as yourself.

Do what you must to teach Abysia a lesson and help me be a better player - yawn.

I don't know what it is, but i can't shake the impression i get of you - a chronic masterbater with delusions of grandure...

Re: STACKERS, newbie game, (started)
 

I appreciate there are counters to these things - However i am playing a nation with no nature at all, so there goes those options... The previous owner of Aby created an 'interesting' pretender!

I appreciate its par for the course and Abysia has a huge vulnerability to BoT - but, if you lost all your mages in one go with no means of recourse, i'm sure you would atleast perhaps even a little, be slightly miffed.

But it is what it is.

I'm told by BG he is about to single me out for some special tutoring so i'm interested in seeing what our resident all star champion has up his sleave...

Re: STACKERS, newbie game, (started)
 

Attention Nations of Stackers...

It is obiously that the potential rightful ruler of this world must be born of its lands and not from the depraved depths of its oceans - another world of fish and lesser forms.

The fish have already declared war upon us - the cowardly spell set over the skys by the lothesome aquatics demonstrates their intentions to devour this world and its people.

I understand that some of the great nations are embroiled in noble wars with their neighbours, i understand that animosities may run deep and rivalries perhaps bitter.

However, The threat posed by the fish people is to us all and therefore must be stopped by us all before we can resume our glorious wars against our noble and worthy neighbours.

I propose the heroes of the land declare a truce with their opponents and join a grand coalition to combat the vile submariners and rid the world of their rotton stench.

Ashdod, you have been constantly wronged by these aliens - You understand their menace - their constant cowardly raiding.

A combined war against the crustacions is limited by the map and made difficult, but the combined genius of the righful pretenders of this realm would undoubtedly formulate a final solution for this undeserving form of life which will never be satisfied until all the lands are poisoned by their malace, their cowerdice and malcontent.

Nations of the World Unite with Abysia and let us join in a glorius and eminently honorable alliance, to rid Stackers of the alien ursupers who lie uncontested in the oceans building formidable instruments of evil, and as already demonstrated will unleash them with no hesitation. Such contempt for us all must be destroyed!

What say you?

Re: STACKERS, newbie game, (started)
 

...I was not aware mages-turned-werewolves retained their magic skills.

If so, that's kinda neat. Mostly academic, but neat.

Re: STACKERS, newbie game, (started)
 

Epic drama is epic. Ok, its not monkey PD epic, but that kind of epic doesn't come along very often.

Anyway, BG is most certainly not a vet. (Heck, I'm not even sure I qualify as a vet.) But he's been playing for ~3 months. Seriously, that's still new.

What BG does do that I don't think I've seen any of the other players in this game do is he chats with people who are vets or varying degrees of lesser experience on IRC, asks questions, and gets quality advice and information about the game from people who have been playing much longer than him.

There are also many strategy guides on this forum. They are available for anyone to read. I have reason to believe BG has read at least some of them. It doesn't have to be about the nation you're playing, reading a good strategy guide (example: many of Baalz's guides - I might recommend his EA Caelum, MA Oceania, and LA Atlantis guides as examples I recall enjoying) can give you a new perspective on many spells and where and when they work. An intelligent player can extrapolate out of the specific nation context and synthesize this knowledge into other contexts.

Anyway, Blackguard has made good use of the resources at his disposal to acquire knowledge beyond his experience. Disparaging him for that seems unwarranted.

Re: STACKERS, newbie game, (started)
 

yes, you learn something new everyday. there's nothing wrong with learning, heck it's part of human nature! I've learned quite a bit myself from this game, and it's not even over yet, unlike the picture you're trying to present, so I'll surely learn a lot more. if you don't learn anything from this game than it is because you choose not to learn anything from it, not because you couldn't.

no, the secret is not "how to play", the secret is the strategy I devised for this game, which you guys allowed me to execute almost perfectly... there's so much you guys could have done to stick some sticks into my wheels but you didn't, so I just used what the game(and players) gave me... also, stop with this "you're a vet" crap, read Squirrelloid's post, read rdonj's post, these are some of the people I chat with regularly on IRC and played a few games with, so they know me much better than any of you. and they say in their own words(with no reason to lie) that I'm only here for around 3 months and that I'm certainly not a vet, so don't take my word for it, take theirs...

you can do whatever you want, we all have the freedom to choose our course of action. however, the picture you see from this game is very flawed. people(not just myself) have been trying to show you the light, but you keep on refusing to see it. you've also opened another thread whining about my BoT, and you've got some very good answers over there as well, I intentionally restrained myself from posting in that thread btw, and will continue to do so...

wrong, if you had actually known me you'd have known that I'm very far from being a noob basher, in all games I play online, not just dominions. heck, in dominions I can't even be a noob basher even if I wanted to, as I still qualify as a noob, light intermediate at most. Squirrelloid still considers himself as intermediate and he's got so much more experience and skills than myself, just to give you the right proportions...

no, but Baalz did write a very good guide for MA Abysia, it's a shame you didn't read it before playing this game as MA Abysia... Baalz's guides are very famous, and for good reason. personally I greatly enjoyed his MA Abysia guide despite never playing them in MP yet...

this impression of yours is very very flawed, but don't listen to me, listen to the other people in here who are trying to show you the light, as you obviously despise me so much for whatever reason...

and here is a classic that shows exactly what I've been talking about:
no nature? so what? you do realize that nature mages are *the* most common indy mages around, right...? all those Tribal Shamans, Druids(the indy type not Marverni's), even Lizard Shamans(S1N1), not to mention more quality indies like the Lore Masters and Enchantresses(random picks from all paths, so perfect diversifying tool if you luck into finding them). so really, complaining that you don't have natural access to nature just shows how lackluster the effort you've put in this game was, and that you're nothing but a whiny brat who doesn't even try to deal with the situation at hand, you prefer to whine about it...

a vulnerability that could have easily been solved, not to mention that doing so in advance would have benefited you in other ways besides just countering BoT...

when did I say I'll single you out for anything? last time I checked my comment was about Ashdod, who seems like he's actually willing to learn something, so I simply said that what I have planned for him would probably open his eyes a bit to some other possibilities...

I'll ask you again, please stop this totally unjustified crusade of yours against me and start to look in the mirror. you're not the victim here but the villain, and many people are trying to help you. it's just that you refuse to acknowledge their help and let yourself be blinded by this unjustified rage of yours instead of acting with even a little common sense.

sorry but I just had to defend myself against your blunt attacks and foul attitude.