General Tipps / Things not to do / Scripts

[RonD]

1. Mages will *usually* cast Spell X if there is a valid target for X in range. That much will get you through 90% of "my mage didn't cast X" moments.

2. Basic commanders should be scripted "stay behind troops". If you want a fighting commander, start with something with 20+ hp and decent attack and defense stats. Give him/her some equipment. You can search various threads on units and equipment for "thugs" on this forum for specific suggestions.

[thejeff]

You control if a mage uses gems or not by giving them to him.

More usefully, a mage won't use gems if he thinks the opposition isn't worth it. This keeps him from using all his gems when attacked by a single scout, but will also underestimate thugs or SCs.

In general, only give mages enough gems to follow their scripts. After the scripts they'll waste gems doing things like summoning elementals that never reach the front lines.

I've never quite figured out when mages will use gems to reduce fatigue. It may be as simple as whenever they can, or it may have some lower fatigue limit.

[Gandalf Parker]

Sorry, even in this "all powerful, dont make me pissed" pretender god thing.. there is still free will. You can TELL your commanders "this is how I picture the first few rounds of combat going" but if they decide that its not the best thing to do then they will change it. Usually there is a reason. They dont have the gems they needed, or they had too many gems so another spell tempted them more. Or the target was out of range. Or another target was closer and more tempting. Or the target was on the battlefield but because of where they were they were unable to see the target.

By the way, on the gems thing. One tactic that alot of people start using is sending scouts along to hold the gems and blood slaves. They stay out of the combat and wont use those up. That way you can replenish just a couple of gems to your mages after each fight. It can also be a good idea to have them hold important equipment that you dont want lost in a battle.

[Meglobob]

Gandalf Parker said:By the way, on the gems thing. One tactic that alot of people start using is sending scouts along to hold the gems and blood slaves. They stay out of the combat and wont use those up.

This is a very good tactic, but always remember to have your scout on sneak or hide orders. You do not want to lose those gems/blood slaves/magic items. Its also a good idea to script retreat with your scout and place to the rear of the battlefield just in case.

As a rule of thumb lets say I have a army with 2 mages who are scripted to cast spells in combat of 6 gems, my scout would typically be carrying 12 gems, enough to fight another 2 battles with. Make sure you always remember to transfer the gems from scout to mages, I have forgot once or twice and had some embarassing defeats...

[tibbs]

Does anyone recall the command where you can view the army layout for all armies invading a single province?

And is there a list of these types of commands anywhere? Maybe I just missed it in the manual.

[Mind Elemental]

Select the province, then hit "y".