Re: Some hints on MA R\'yleh?
 

Remember that even if you take Cold 3, it takes a while for provinces to shift all the way and there's seasonal variation as well. You won't usually be fighting in Cold 3. And you would be some of the time even if you took Cold 2.

This is why it's usually recommended that nations with a temperature preference take one more step of that scale. Almost free points.

Re: Some hints on MA R\'yleh?
 

I belong to the camp that doesn't believe in seasonal variation. I mean, I have seen temperature fluctuations sure, but in my experience they are far too subtle to be a factor in a strategy. It's not as if all provinces are +1 Heat in summer and +1 Cold in winter, in fact it's far from that.

For me, one of the major deciding factors is the fact that the other temperature is so extremely debilitating to you, that you want to push in your direction as hard as possible, to insure more favorable conditions. The other being that your dominion hampers most other nations more than the excess temp scale hampers you. There is nothing "free" about a -5% income in your capital from turn 1 through the entirety of the game, that's for sure. And the longer the game goes, the more of your territory will have the extra scale, and thus be generating less income. It just happens that the tradeoff is worth it, you give your neighbors a large penalty, and you suffer a smaller penalty yourself.

Re: Some hints on MA R\'yleh?
 

Resurrecting an old thread since this question hasn't been answered...

If you take a Wyrm and Cold 3, doesn't that severely reduce his effectiveness?

Re: Some hints on MA R'yleh?
 

I wouldn't say severely, maybe mildly. Except when defending territories deep enough to be steadily under your dominion for a time they won't be at cold-3 (well, at least not from your dominion). Even when fighting in cold-3, a high dominion wyrm won't have much trouble with almost any indies, and by the time you're fighting more than that it's trivial to stick a frost ring on him if you think it'll make a difference.

Re: Some hints on MA R'yleh?
 

Thanks. I guess I am unclear about the negatives of cold-blooded troops in cold climates (this rarely has come up for me, and when it has I've found other ways around it).

Re: Some hints on MA R'yleh?
 

Perhaps counterintuitively, Wyrm pretenders are not coldblooded.