[Dominions 5] The Skeleton Wars

[Marauder Moe]

Hey Pretenders,

Despite the general feeling that some people didn't want to commit to more than one game at, I've been feeling a bit of an itch for another one.  So, I've been thinking about doing a format I'd wanted to try for a while: a pure PvE coop battle.

The setup:
-Middle Ages
-All human players part of a pretender/disciple team.
-Independent AI nations set to "impossible"
--Ermor
--Asphodel
--R'lyeh
--Sceleria
--+more "evil" nations (Nazca, C'tis, Shinuyama, Jotunheim) as needed
-Story events, increased magic sites, powerful thrones

This should be a nice, low-stakes, low-stress, high-adventure game.  Great for newbies wanting to see more experienced players in action.  Doesn't need a large player count.

So who's interested?

Players:
Marauder Moe (Marignon?)
racurtne (Man)
montarion
Pale Horse (Eriu)
Kialae
Inks (Acrocephale)
Zoltan (Tien Chi)

[Akaramu]

I... I wish I had time for games right now 

[racurtne]

Actually, this type of game I can probably participate in. It would be a lot less time consuming than a pvp game, and I've been itching for more dominions too.

So yea, count me in.

[racurtne]

Also, in order to keep the game moving, with permission we can do each other's turns if we're going to be busy.

[montarion]

Super down for this.

Marignon is going to be basically mandatory.
Pythium also, for thematic reasons.

[Marauder Moe]

Yeah, Marignon is a prime candidate for pretender, with +2 fire, +2 astral bless points.  I mocked up this build:



Can't you practically feel the righteous vengeance?

I... I wish I had time for games right now 

Well, this is probably one of the lowest-effort ways to get into this game for multiplayer, heh.

[Akaramu]

Well, this is probably one of the lowest-effort ways to get into this game for multiplayer, heh.

I'd still have to re-learn the game and solo practice a bit. Right now I have about 2-3 hours of free time a day, half of which I spend passing out in front of the TV, too exhausted to even keep my eyes open.

I'll read the thread, though, so... keep those informative posts from other Dominions threads coming! They're great for 10 minute breaks in between the writing and editing.

[Pale Horse]

Sure, count me in.  It only takes a couple minutes to put a turn together.

[Kialae]

I wanna learn more, so yes.

[Inks]

Ctis please, as disciple

Super keen.

Oh wait you said Ctis was an "evil" nation. Hang on.

Arcosephale then to keep with the theme

Disciple games are incredibly hard vs AI because they co-ordinate perfectly, sounds good.

[racurtne]

Man for me pls, as they too are a 'good' faction.

[Marauder Moe]

My understanding is AI actually doesn't function well as a disciple and you get a harder challenge with them being independent.

[racurtne]

Well I assume we're also going to crank their difficulty up to max.

[Marauder Moe]

Indeed.

[Pale Horse]

Eriu, for me.  Let's see how long the sidhe can survive.

[Marauder Moe]

Any thoughts about Pretender/scales/bless?

I can certainly play that god I posted (though I've played a lot of Marignon so if someone else is burning for fiery justice I'm happy to play something else).

The only downside is, of course, imprisoned means disciples won't awaken until ~15 months.  Also note: you don't get to appoint a prophet in disciple games.

[Pale Horse]

Any thoughts about Pretender/scales/bless?

I can certainly play that god I posted (though I've played a lot of Marignon so if someone else is burning for fiery justice I'm happy to play something else).

The only downside is, of course, imprisoned means disciples won't awaken until ~15 months.  Also note: you don't get to appoint a prophet in disciple games.

You've already got the blessings I would have suggested for undead killing.

[racurtne]

Well awe I think is not the best. It's useless against mindless troops. Also that's 3 years in at least. Fire shield, attack, or even morale would be my suggestions

[Inks]

Awe is a goddamn horrible choice vs the armies of the night, and will be almost useless vs our opponents since the majority will be mindless. Fire shield would be a better choice, or even attack and less asleep. The disciples will need to expand ASAP if we want a chance of winning and having them away for 15 turns will sign the alliance of light and fire's death warrant.

[Inks]

Huh, Racturne posted the same time. But yep.

[Marauder Moe]

That is a good point.

[Inks]

Solar weapons is an amazing choice for our alliance though.

Also blood surge is my favorite bless. Considering we will be fighting masses of low-tier troops it is definately a winner here.

Also sorry if I came off as rude, I just have fun being over the top when talking dom strategy.

[Marauder Moe]

So would you rather have Fire Shield or some combination of Attack Skill, Inspirational Presence, or more scales/dominion?

It's also possible to trade MR to fit in Twist Fate, though I suspect MR is more widely applicable.

Looks like we could also afford 4 points in a new path without too much fuss, though I'd have to drop down to Astral 4 which puts a few end-game spells and items out of reach.

[Kialae]

Can you just pick a good guy team for me? I don't know.

[Zoltan]

Can you just pick a good guy team for me? I don't know.

I recommend Ulm. They're good-ish, and an excellent nation for learning on. Like Abysia, they do a couple of things really well which makes them easier to pick up and experiment with. They're primarily focused on earth magic and super-heavy infantry.

Write me in for T'ien Ch'i, I had a lot of fun with them in SP recently.