three noobie questions

[Kaffa]

thanks for quickly answers !!!!
This is a fantastic forum .......and...I 'll read another time my manual....

[Agema]

With regard to the ancient master, bear in mind mages get +1 research per +1XP badge. It would actually be more research efficient to push mages in for training to their first badge, just so long as they generate less than 8 research normally and you don't have to move them there specifically. Still only a small advantage though.

[Sombre]

What was the number of turns they sat researching after getting their star in that calculation?

[Edi]

The Ancient Master also trains all the units of the commander who enters it and at 8 XP per turn, the first one or two stars rack up pretty quickly, which can be good for some things, especially if the province is in a staging area. Adding a Champion's Skull to a commander who enters the site will cause that commander to hit 12 XP per turn, which is a pretty good clip and may prolong staying in the HoF in some instances if he had made it there already.

[Arralen]

As I'm not playing MP any more, I feel free to cite some facts that might give an edge in competition

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EXPERIENCE

Johan O:
Here is a list of effects of increased experience (cumulative).

XP 1 (15pts)
Att +1, Def +1, Prec +1, Mrl +1, Research +1, +20 leadership

XP 2 (50pts.)
Att +1, Def +1, Prec +1, Mrl +1, Research +1

...

All units, except mindless ones, get:
1 exp per turn
+1 exp for participating in a battle
+3 exp for winning a battle
+1 exp per unit killed in melee combat

Kristoffer O posted January 27, 2004 17:41
Not +1 for killing, but +1 for hitting an enemy. Quick Nataraja with 4 swords of swiftness, Chi Shoes and Stone Bird.

Arralen :
Champions Skull (Con- , Death-2): +3 Exp/turn

Edi :
Re: Academy of War question [Re: FarAway Pretender]
Academy of War gives 4 exp per turn,
The Ancient Master gives 8.
Academy of War is not unique, and it is still a level 0 Blood site. The Ancient Master is unique.

Arralen :
The sites work for both commanders and their troops!

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Now, question still is - is it worth it?
Let's do a little calculation ... first, with the usual Research-4 mage in Magic-1 dominion :

Turn 1 .. mage "Alfred" researches for 5 pts, while mage "Bogus" moves to the training site.
Turn 2 .. Alfred researches for 5pts (total 10), while Bogus enters the site and gains +7 EXP/turn.
Turn 3 .. Alfred still researches for 5pts (total 15) again, while Bogus trains some more and reaches "exp level 1".
Turn 4 .. Alfred is at +5/20, while Bogus moves back to the lab.

Turn 5 .. Alfred researches +5 for 25, while Bogus starts with +6/0
.. this remains the same until turn 15, when Alfred gets his 1 star as well. During those those 11 turns, Bogus will research 11 more points than Alfred, but Alfred had a head start of 20 points to beginn with ... .

Obviously, we needn't go through this for higher magic scales or research abilities, as proportions are even more disfavourable then.

Now, are those sites utterly useless? - NO !

For mages, things are much better if you happen to have a lab in the province anyway .. your overall total will be some pts better with trained mages

More important, though, are the sites for combat commanders and troops: Each star gives +20 leadership for normal troops - what means you could get away with 1 less commander per 4-6 build (depending on nation), thus having the opportunity to build one more mage ... . Furthermore, boosting the troops to exp-level 1 can give a nice edge if you're still using any kind of troop in significant numbers (not only chaff and SCs).

edit: *****!!!, Edi was faster than me. Then, I've typed more ..

[Gandalf Parker]

On small map blitz type games they might not be worth using (I will leave that to the experts) but on large map longer running games I find it handy to find one nearby that I can use to quickly upgrade a commander.

[Edi]

JK is actually wrong about the leadership bonus for units, since it's a percentage of initial leadership, the bonus is variable.

Units with base ldr 10 only get to ldr 15 with 1 star, while ldr 40 units become ldr 55 units with 1 star, ldr 80 units get to 100. I haven't paid attention after that.

[Arralen]

Originally Posted by Edi

JK is actually wrong about the leadership bonus for units, since it's a percentage of initial leadership, the bonus is variable.

Don't blame JK, blame me for improper quoting .. guess I simply cut'n'pasted too wildly