scouts in early age

[fantasma]

Hi all,

the general motto is never to recruit scouts from fortresses, but in many early age games indie scouts are not available, at least not in the early stages. Do you forgo scouts completely or use some of your fortress turns?

Once upkeep kicks in seriously there usually is a fortress left where a mage is too expensive, but before that?

[WingedDog]

I don't think it's wrong to hire scout in a fort if you realise you need scout more than a mage right now. Intelligence is important.

[Calahan]

Originally Posted by WingedDog

Intelligence is important.

This couldn't be more true

Or sadly more lacking in most players when it comes to making strategic decisions in-game

[Redeyes]

I have a suspicion that one of the reasons Caelum often does so well is its flying scouts...

[Warhammer]

The opposite is a big reason why I hate glamour nations. I was playing a friend who had TNN, my Eagle Kings were raining lightning from the sky, when he tried to counter them, my mammoths rode them down, and then when he KNEW I was going to use a storm, I had my archers light him up. But, everytime I pushed him hard or tried raiding, I would hit one of his major armies and lose the force. I wound up losing because even though I won all the big battles, I lost the war of attrition. I wasn't sure where to hit him because I couldn't see his armies. Had he played a non-glamour nation, I would have won.

EDIT: Intelligence is HUGE in this game.

[Redeyes]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

The opposite is a big reason why I hate glamour nations. I was playing a friend who had TNN, my Eagle Kings were raining lightning from the sky, when he tried to counter them, my mammoths rode them down, and then when he KNEW I was going to use a storm, I had my archers light him up. But, everytime I pushed him hard or tried raiding, I would hit one of his major armies and lose the force. I wound up losing because even though I won all the big battles, I lost the war of attrition. I wasn't sure where to hit him because I couldn't see his armies. Had he played a non-glamour nation, I would have won.

I really don't know, Caelum seems like a fairly good counter to TNN.

Flying units break castles extremely quickly, faster than the enemy can mobilize units to a given corner of the map.

Death and Water with alteration (which you should get for fog warriors) gives you frozen heart and disintegrate to deal with thugs.

Although I admit glamour is a great advantage...

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by Redeyes

I really don't know, Caelum seems like a fairly good counter to TNN.

Flying units break castles extremely quickly, faster than the enemy can mobilize units to a given corner of the map.

Death and Water with alteration (which you should get for fog warriors) gives you frozen heart and disintegrate to deal with thugs.

Although I admit glamour is a great advantage...

Not arguing any of the above. Caelum is good, but they can't stand toe to toe with anyone. You raid and hit your enemy where they're not, etc. My problem was I kept hitting him where he was, and although I won 90% of the battles, I lost the war because I could accept the losses I suffered, and he could.

[fantasma]

But what do you do, then? Let's say in the second/third year when you did not cover up any scout province?

[Warhammer]

Recruit from a fortress.

[Gandalf Parker]

Ive never been big on that. Why would scouts be less available in early age? It seems to me that a scout is about the simplest unit for a province to be able to provide. Knights, longbowman, chariots, and maybe elephants I could see as a later developments. But scouts?

As far as using them...
As in every absolute answer in this game it could be followed by a tiny print disclaimer at the bottom "NOTE: Tested in (solo or mp) with xxxxx mods, on a ##/player prov ratio, and only if not starting next to xxxxxxxx nation"

But having said that, Ive never been big on the "dont get scouts" thing. The efficiency of use has been laid out in unarguable spreadsheeted displays. I cant argue the math. But PLAYING the game for fun, for me, tends to want scout reports. What I do is try to make a mage, or a commander if I need one. But if I am building up an army to go out then sometimes and I put everything into units with just enough left over to get a scout then I will get one. I never want to waste that. A scout might be my last choice (in some cases), but its never a non-choice.

I might mention that the lack of scounts in early age is one of the reasons I love playing Pangaea or Arcos in that age.