So far what nations look strong... and weak?

[Truper]

Agreed.

How's this for an agrument... Magic Duel is -NOT FUN-. I consider it a burden. It is added complexity that almost never makes the game better. At least in my opinion.

Any other opinions? Does anyone out there ENJOY what magic duel brings to the game? This is perhaps the question that needs to be asked.

It's a question that I suppose only the MP vets can answer, as the AI doesn't use magic duel.

But I think it may have been put into the game as burden to make people think twice about one of the unique abilities of astral mages, since toned down in Dom2 - namely gateway. Sure you can blip entire armies around the map, and get a special attack before the other guy moves, but make a mistake, and blip into a province with a better astral mage, and run the risk of stranding that army, with appropriately dire consequences.

I also don't see how the management of dueling is especially more burdensome than some of the more mundane management tasks - ensuring that your armored Ulmish hordes aren't going up against too many crossbows, or whether the enemy might have a force capable of using wrathful skies, or whether they might use one of the other instant-death spells like disintegrate, etc.

It also comes with its own fair share of risk, now that it is no longer deterministic.

Why is it any -LESS FUN- than any of the myriad other ways you can get stomped?