Does Ryleh and Atlantis have an unfair advantage?
 

What do you think? It's hard for the land-based nations to get to them until very late.

Re: Does Ryleh and Atlantis have an unfair advantage?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">They dont tend to do so well on land so its fair. I havent had all that much problem with them. But they do tend to be considered up just about on the level of Ermor as far as peskiness.

[ November 21, 2003, 22:43: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

Re: Does Ryleh and Atlantis have an unfair advantage?
 

In multiplayer it's a huge advantage. These nations will almost always be around for the endgame.

In Dom1 what stopped them from dominating was:
1> There would often be a super successful land player, and the sea nations would have a hard time making headway versus this nation, particularly because...
2> Being very protected many sea nations sit back and try not to generate any bad karma that would upset their peaceful game. The alure of being able to pump troops and magic in safty is huge. Being safe inspires a mindset of passivness that allows that dominant land player to grow beyond control.
3> The sea nations have a tendency to be picked by non-aggressive players that are looking for safty rather than power.
4> The sea nations have a bit of trouble generating land troops of the same number and quality as the land nations. At least the was the case in Dom1. The new Illithids give me the shivers. Plus many Atlantean troops use poison, which is harder to counter in Dom2.


If played with the same aggresiveness as a land nation, they have a strong strategic advantage. IMHO.

Re: Does Ryleh and Atlantis have an unfair advantage?
 

Hm. I've never really grokked how to use the sea nations well; have problems maintaining dominion, or taking out the tritons without losing too many units/commanders in the initial counterattack.

The astral-heavy sea nations do lose somewhat in Dom II with the harder Dispel (which cannot be cast from underwater!) and the harder and restricted Gateway.

R'lyeh seems pretty wacky; if you send a Starspawn into the Void Gate, perhaps you lose the action of a 150gp commander for no gain that turn, or it could be feebleminded, maybe he and his bodyguards are massacred... or perhaps you gain an incredibly powerful sacred unit that can move in water or fly 10 land provinces a turn if you Gift of Reason it (I don't know of any commander which can match that mobility; might be one but I haven't seen it yet)... it's a bit wild of a gamble.