PBEM game: The first step (Running)

[Alneyan]

The first link should be changed to something like: http://www.sangster.org/dominions/grimorie.php

Alternatively, you should "hide" that long URL, by using the ["url=address] text [/url] code (without the initial ").

[Agrajag]

Just wondering, isnt the word Grimoire?

[Alneyan]

It ought to be, but it has been spelt "Grimorie" quite often in Dominions, if not always (in my Dom 2 manual for example). I guess some typos die hard.

[sushiboat]

Turn 12

The province tally is: Machaka 10, Ermor 9, Marignon 8, Pythium 7, Arcosephale 7, Pangaea 6, Jotunheim 6, and Man 5. Pangaea and Machaka found gems. Man leads in research, with Pangaea and Arco close behind.

[Molog]

Turn 13

I'm starting to lag behind.

I water a seed.

Dagan has been bought by Ermor.

Jotunheim has bough rexors barbarians. Barbarians hit hard, but tend to run away easily.

[sushiboat]

Turn 13

The province tally is: Machaka 11, Ermor 9, Marignon 9, Pythium 8, Arcosephale 7, Pangaea 6, Jotunheim 6, and Man 5. Pythium, Ermor, and Marignon found gems. Jotunheim commands Rexor's Barbarians, and Ermor now employs Dagan the Sage.

[Ironhawk]

Just a random thought for newbies. I consider it a rule of thumb to get 1 province/turn for about the first 6 to 8 turns and then 2 provinces/turn after that. Going up to 3/turn on larger maps where you dont contact a player.

[Shmonk]

Yes, but how do you expand at 2 a turn and still search the sites you've conquered and still do research? It seems to me that you can either conquer first and search later, or conquer and search at the same time, while still deciding when to do research.

Just thinking out loud.

Still trying to look for some new "growth" that this mysterious seed has supposedly taken root. I'm afraid it's some giant darkvine, but luckily I can't see it yet, if that's the case (or I'm far enough away that it doesn't appear on the horizon).

[CyborgMoses]

I'm thinking it's probably crabgrass. That stuff gets everywhere.

[Alneyan]

Basically, you will want to reach an average of one province per turn (more if possible), but since you cannot take two provinces on the first turn (on Independents 6 at least), that means taking a few more provinces on the way.

As soon as possible, the capital should be recruiting one mage per turn, with other provinces recruiting the mundane commanders needed for leadership. Most nations have access to a cheap mage for research: the Daughter of Avalon for Man is a prime example. Some nations have access to mages cheap to recruit, and others cheap to maintain: for example, Marignon has both the Initiate and the Inquisitor, and they give the same amount of research. However, the Initiate is more expensive to maintain, since he is not holy, while the Inquisitor will cost you more to recruit. In those cases, you should see if you would rather have a couple of priests just in case (undead invasion, Pretender being killed...), or if you cannot afford more than those 65 gold coins for the Initiate. If you are wealthy, you can go the Witch Hunter way, for a faster research, or even the Grand Master... but recruiting one Grand Master a turn may be difficult.

Still, you should not expect to be able to research and search sites at the same time if you need some of your mages for expansion. The low-level mages (Inquisitor and Initiate) are good for research though, so those will likely stay at home and not do anything else. A couple of Grand Masters should handle your magic searching, along with your Pretender, if needed. Site searching is likely less important than expansion however, unless you are considering selling a province: in this case, either you search for sites to see if you should really sell the province, or you don't search it and let your neighbour do the job. I would rather search for sites in this case though, as giving them a -50% blood site would *hurt*.