Mod: Warhammer Dwarfs, version 0.92 -- Quickfix

[rdonj]

Runic wards are still shields, so it would be difficult to give them a 2 handed weapon. I suppose he could make them a one-handed version of a two-handed weapon to use, but I wouldn't go that direction personally.

By the way, thunderers definitely are parried by shields. They're pretty decent even as is though. I've been playing dwarfs vs brettonia... they're my go to weapon for grail knights/kotr.

Also, I'm really liking iron breakers. They cost an arm, a leg, and a spleen, but they just do not die. And the Dwarfs do a pretty good job with buffs, so it doesn't really even take much effort to make them even better.

[llamabeast]

Could mapmove 4 really make sense for a dwarven messenger? That is as fast as fast undead cavalry riding across open plains, by both day and night. How can a dwarf cover that much ground?

[rdonj]

Underground roller coaster?

[Burnsaber]

Originally Posted by llamabeast

Could mapmove 4 really make sense for a dwarven messenger? That is as fast as fast undead cavalry riding across open plains, by both day and night. How can a dwarf cover that much ground?

First of all, Runebearers cheat. They travel along the abandoned and nearly forgotten underground tunnels build during the golden empire, basically giving them a major shortcut (to anywhere). They don't need to follow rivers to find a shallow point to cross and neither do they get slowed down by rain, winterstorms and muddy terrain.

Second, they are not called "Runebearers" just for fun. Let's just say that they are packing something more to help them run than just a dry pair of socks.

Third, do not underestimate the power of dwarven willpower and sheer refusal to give up, even when faced with a nigh impossible task.

[alansmithee]

I would recommend waiting to remove prospectors now until there's some multi-player action with the dwarves. As it is, you'll have almost no battlefield magic presence until you hit the anvils (outside of some buffs). I kinda saw prospectors as a way to help deal with that. Against AI scripting they're good, but I don't think it would be as gamebreaking against a human player (I could be wrong though).

[Burnsaber]

Originally Posted by alansmithee

I would recommend waiting to remove prospectors now until there's some multi-player action with the dwarves. As it is, you'll have almost no battlefield magic presence until you hit the anvils (outside of some buffs). I kinda saw prospectors as a way to help deal with that. Against AI scripting they're good, but I don't think it would be as gamebreaking against a human player (I could be wrong though).

The thing is that you can't script pd, allowing prospectors to raid even 15+ pd provinces without losses. Combine this with stealth. Also "no battlefield magic" is a pretty heavy statement. Everyone seems to overlook Journeyman Runesmiths. Sure, E2 is not much, but it is everything you need, especially if you give them Earth Boots.

[alansmithee]

Originally Posted by Burnsaber

The thing is that you can't script pd, allowing prospectors to raid even 15+ pd provinces without losses. Combine this with stealth. Also "no battlefield magic" is a pretty heavy statement. Everyone seems to overlook Journeyman Runesmiths. Sure, E2 is not much, but it is everything you need, especially if you give them Earth Boots.

There's many things that are able to raid provinces, I don't think prospectors are unusual in that regard. I just think it might be a bit hasty, considering most (if not all) of the testing has been coming against AI opponents.

And E2 isn't much at all, especially since you can't really afford to span the journeymen (with castles costing so much, you need someone to research) and they can't lead troops. Also, most of the big earth combat magic is really exhausting, and you're wasting at least one turn to summon earthpower them.

Going after anvils really also has the benefits of giving you all the runes right there.

[kianduatha]

I'm fiddling around with some of the proposed changes--Runeguards are absolutely terrifying with a high bless. You give up a ton to do so(no air access, imprisoned pretender usually, no gold left over for castles), but the results are hilarious. Think of an E10N4S4 bless. They're suddenly 0 enc, 24 protection, high defense, shielded troops with 17 magic resist.

Of course, your expansion isn't really any higher than that of a normal Longbeard or something strategy. In fact, because of the crazy goldcost of recruiting full on Runesmiths just for troop ferrying(ugh, but thematic), you take a while to get a second castle up. The real bonus is just having these badass Runeguards around.

I really wouldn't put them above 60 goldcost right now, though. You have that gigantic cost of needing to use a 220 gp commander just to bless them. And while they're more or less immune to conventional troops, magic still does a number on them(it just has to not be MR-resistable) and you'll never have a lot of them.

[kianduatha]

Yes, they are killer against the AI. The question is if they are killer against actual players. They actually were immobile in the past, and they were absolutely useless because they couldn't accompany actual armies into battle. Frankly, they're your only 'good' battlemages, and do require sacrifices to get to.

What spells were you using with the Anvil against the AI?

I do agree though that the Runelord changes have inadvertently made the Anvil of Doom spell too easy to cast; maybe bump it up to Holy-4 or Earth-6? Speaking of which, the Runelord hero is a bit lackluster these days; Sure, he has S2, which is nice, but before the Runelord changes he was the badass who was actually able to summon Anvils without being prophetized.

[HoneyBadger]

Do the anvils have any sort of armour on them, currently?

I was thinking that, considering they're massive blocks of metal, you might represent that by giving them armour, which could then be rusted away via various spells, leaving the anvil itself intact, but with a serious penalty to Prot.