Early strategy suggestions

[Caduceus]

I guess I am a moron, but I can't seem to get out of the box I get into every game. I research for a few turns, get a few more units (higher end infantry or archers of some sort) then sally forth and get a province or two. Then I stall. I can't seem to
a.) continue to conquer more provinces because there are either to many independents or another player has them
b.) support a large army on these provinces because of income problems or cap out on leader's numbers of troops beneath him
c.) research any new spells because I send my pretender out and he gets creamed early on.

Any basic strategy points?

wildcard

[PvK]

Larger map with fewer AI nations set to Normal or lower difficulty might help.

Use a scout to determine which local provinces have weak independent defenders, and attack those first, usually beginning about turn 2.

Hire someone besides your pretender to do research, and perhaps give your researchers magic items which help them research faster. And/or, research and ritual/item cast with your pretender at home, while hiring someone else to do you your super-heroing and site-searching. Whom you can hire depends on your nation and independent sites you might find.

When a commander can't lead all your men, hire another commander.

Once you've chosen a nation to play, do a search on this forum for threads about the strategy of that nation. And/or search the web and/or Illwinter's web site for such (there are tips for all the nations which were in Dominions I, and the basics of those have generally not changed).

PvK

[ January 30, 2004, 00:55: Message edited by: PvK ]

[Targa]

Be sure you're not making the same mistake I did when I first got the game and enabling ALL the other nations at normal difficulty.

I suggest, at setup, only enable 2 other nations (to start as a beginner), and put them on "easy AI" (which is a very misleading term for a beginner...they are NOT that easy when you're just learning the game). You say that after a few turns another nation already has nearby provinces, so it sounds like you're making too many nations active.

Resist the temptation to "buy the best". Recruit the cheapest units (about 20-30) and put them in the front-center of the army. Put your archers to the front but way off to the side (bottom and/or top as you look at the green box). Put your heavy-hitters off to the side a bit, slightly behind and to the side of your "cannon fodder" troops. Make sure you order all your Commanders, priests, and spellcasters to "stay behind troops". With this strategy, the cheap units will absorb the initial shock of the attack, and so what if a handful get killed...they're cheap. This will allow your other, more expensive units to break the morale of the enemy once they start attacking.

Income problems: When you conquer a province, there will be a certain amount of unrest (because of the war turmoil factor). First turn, lower the taxes to about 10% for every 5 unrest. ie: If unrest is 11, lower taxes to 70% for one turn. On the next turn, unrest should be zero (unless there's a hidden magic site causing unrest), so change the tax back to 100% on this turn. Always conquer the provinces that border up against your starting province first, as this provides your starting province with more resources for recruiting units.

With the cheap units, some will probably rout every battle and run to a nearby province, so have a "cheap commander" on hand that can round them up and bring them back to the front lines.

Don't use your pretender in melee if he's getting killed. Give yourself some time to learn the game mechanics. If all this doesn't help, no worries. Do this:

When you create a new game, the Last screen you see has a bunch of options. The top one is "Strength of Independents". You can change this to a lower number, and it'll be easier to conquer provinces. Change "world richness" to a higher number to get more money. Change "special site frequency" (or whatever it says) to 50 instead of 40. I forget off-hand what the rest are, but they should help you be able to play a decent game. Just be aware that if you lower the strength of independents, it also makes it easier for the computer AI to expand.

Oh, and use the "Aran" (topmost) map to start.

[Raz 24]

Or better yet BONK the enemy!

[asparagus]

As the saying goes....

"An army of sheeps lead by a lion can defeat an army of lions lead by a sheep"

I usually start out with a pumped up commander (like a spellcaster with priestly powers) usually to make him perform double duty. A high leadership rating would be a plus when selecting a commander, around 25 would do but 10 is bad. Make this commander lead the cheapest units as possible... a militia is good here coz it can hul stones as well as attack in close range.

It doesn't matter if all of your units are militia or archers... your goal here is to stay on top with superior numbers.

[void]

another suggestion: hire mercs. you'll get huge potential to your early-exploration.

[ January 30, 2004, 06:01: Message edited by: void ]