MP Game - Live and Learn (newbie game)-running

[Thufir]

I would like to play Vanheim. I am not sure whether I qualify as a newbie. I have never been among the top three of any game I have played, does this count? I have played three or four MP games, though.

If you think it is Ok, I would like to play Vanheim.

Sure - welcome in!

And I am curious, why do you forbid Caelum? Jotunheim and Vanheim have no problem dealing with Caelum, and other races have their strengths as well :-)

I'm not dead set on it, and partly it's just legacy - I'm copying a game setup Archaeolept did for my first game (with a few simplifications). But the reason for my preference is that Caelum's presence forces all players encountering them to defend in depth, which is a considerable complication when working out your defensive strategies. I know that any nation can summon/create some amount of flying forces (and Atlantis, Vanheim and Ryleh all handle oceans much better than the rest - yielding a similar effect), but AFAIK, no other nation has near the same degree of airborne troops. So, I'm thinking it'll be easier to learn the basics of Dom2, if we don't have to concern ourselves (as much) with defending in depth.