Casting first in defence + endgame spells
 

After having seen some battles like the castle storming I posted here :

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...o=&fpart=1

My conclusion is :

I'd like a game mechanic to be created, making impossible to use any *instant* offensive spell affecting the whole battlefield in round one (like Master Enslave, Rain of Stones, Earthquakes, Bone Grinding, Arcane Domination, Undead Mastery, Unraveling, etc...) so the attacker has one round to cast army buffs (defender would still be able to use these spells first in round two, so the defensive advantage would not be reduced too much).

* Continuous effects (like wrathfull skies, fire storm, astral tempest, etc) are not concerned, as well as even large AE spells if they have limited range -a well positioned force can always reduce their effects-

Using mages AI it may be easy to implement (if a -10000000 value can be given to these spells during round one only, so they are overwritten if scripted) and I think it would make endgame battles far more interesting (real battles instead of round one victories for the defender if he has good mages and a sufficient number of gems for them -and even if attacker engage far more mages, unable to protect their army/themselves in round one they are worthless-)

Your thoughts ?

Re: Casting first in defence + endgame spells
 

Twan, I watched those battles. Wouldn't the attacker have actually come out better if they had also scripted Undead Mastery? In your game, you as the defended would have taken control of Ermor's hordes only to lose them when he as the attacker "re-took" them over.

In that case, going 2nd would be an advantage it seems since the defenders gems and fatigue would be spent with little to show.

Playing that out could lead to some cat and mouse psychology - perhaps the defender waits a round to let the Attacker go first, then casts theirs as a counter...

Re: Casting first in defence + endgame spells
 

You can cast Undead Mastery and next mage can cast Antimagic to affect your new troops.

Re: Casting first in defence + endgame spells
 

I've done that. My opponent got mighty angry afterwards. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Casting first in defence + endgame spells
 

Even if Ermor had scripted such a spell, it wouldn't have been a sufficient counter as between my undead mastery and his action I had cast antimagic (+4 MR is an huge difference meaning he would have only re-enslaved one third or so of the undeads).

Also to cast a spell his mages had to be alive after my turn (actually only one or two of his human mages survived the rain of stones and attacks by the enslaved troops, when I saved all mine with fog warriors, mass protection and will of the fates -and I just used one rain of stones, when I could have cast several earthquakes too in first round-). Of course he may have cast with tartarians, summoned mages (ethearals or with numerous hp) or given armor to all his mages. But the cost to protect all mages (or use a sufficient number of summoned ones) is so huge it's not really an option.

Re: Casting first in defence + endgame spells
 

Ahh..forgot about the Anti-Magic buff. That would make a huge difference.

Re: Casting first in defence + endgame spells
 

I think I agree with Twan. It's pretty annoying.

Re: Casting first in defence + endgame spells
 

I like the way it is. By the end game, human mages are useful only on the
defense. What's wrong with this? The defender must have an advantage.

Re: Casting first in defence + endgame spells
 

If you're so concerned about a defending force, use armor on some mages to soften them up. Use rituals to soften them up. Use assassins to soften them up. Use items that spread disease and damage their supplies to soften them up.

An enemy that's holed up is very little threat to you besides the rituals they can cast. Take a page from The Art Of War: meet strength with weakness. Meet weakness with strength. Flow around the enemy's strongpoints. You don't HAVE to attack an enemy at the height of their power. Be creative!

Re: Casting first in defence + endgame spells
 

But system like that makes VP games really not fun. You can stack many domes, put a fort and laugh at every invading army.