Surviving on an Island

[alexti]

Originally posted by Peter Ebbesen:

quote:

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Originally posted by alexti:

- call of the wild, which has already been mentioned. You have plenty of nature gems and if you have several mages cast call of the wild on the same province you have good chances to conquer it and then expand from there.

Except for one slight detail... The only recruitable mages able to cast call of the wild without empowering or equipping are the nice Pans. And they generate maenads each turn. That increase your upkeep. That you cannot get rid of as you cannot disband troops and have nowhere to expand.

It is going to take a long, long time to research enough and then hire a few Pans and then cast call of the wilds - without going bankrupt

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Yeah, maenads may be a problem. But not in the order scale. In order+3 they never attract maenads, I'm not sure what happens in order+1/order+2, but I don't remember getting maeands either. So, this may not be a problem after all. And for research I'd rather buy Dryads (assuming positive magic scale). They are cheaper as researchers. Buying Pans is probably too expensive and can be postponed until the time you're about to cast CoW.

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally posted by Peter Ebbesen:

quote:

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Originally posted by alexti:

- call of the wild, which has already been mentioned. You have plenty of nature gems and if you have several mages cast call of the wild on the same province you have good chances to conquer it and then expand from there.

Except for one slight detail... The only recruitable mages able to cast call of the wild without empowering or equipping are the nice Pans. And they generate maenads each turn. That increase your upkeep. That you cannot get rid of as you cannot disband troops and have nowhere to expand.

It is going to take a long, long time to research enough and then hire a few Pans and then cast call of the wilds - without going bankrupt

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Hmmm good point. Probably too late I would have realized to hire only the other mages until I have spells like Call of the Wild researched.

Of course if a Pan gets water as the random he can always walk him to the mainland. Handy to have there when he gets CotW researched. Plus, they are kindof fun to walk around in other nations territory. Every move the drop maenads that attack while the Pan stays hidden. If you find a nation that is slow on putting in defence points you can actually collect provinces that way or at least be very harrassing. Also gives you EXACT info on what is there before deciding to drop a CotW on it.

It would be a very long and boring start, but a safe one. I never said it would be worth trying to play it, just that everything has pros and cons if you look. I LOVE this game.

[ March 27, 2004, 14:27: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

[Darryl]

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:

Hmmm good point. Probably too late I would have realized to hire only the other mages until I have spells like Call of the Wild researched.

Of course if a Pan gets water as the random he can always walk him to the mainland. Handy to have there when he gets CotW researched. Plus, they are kindof fun to walk around in other nations territory. Every move the drop maenads that attack while the Pan stays hidden. If you find a nation that is slow on putting in defence points you can actually collect provinces that way or at least be very harrassing. Also gives you EXACT info on what is there before deciding to drop a CotW on it.

It would be a very long and boring start, but a safe one. I never said it would be worth trying to play it, just that everything has pros and cons if you look. I LOVE this game.

A long and boring start indeed. Well I actually played a little more, and was wondering "Why is that "X" getting bigger in my home province?" Maenads. I recruited 2 Pans before rereading this thread. All the maenads do is eat, drink, and have sex. So I have happy, well fed troops in ever increasing numbers. Did I mention I got the Harpy hero? She apparently attracts harpies who *eat my food*. Did I mention my pretender is a Lord of the Wild, who also attracts maenads? My strategy is soon going to involve Endless bags of wine just to keep everyone healthy enough to Last until mid game when I can actually use someone.

Also, my choice seems to be "recruit pans and hope a water one shows up before they cause everyone to starve in my capital" or "Hope for a mage mercenary" or "don't use magic in battles". I'm just about done here. Think I'll leave Pangaea alone. Maybe I'll try Ermor.

Darryl

[Torvak]

Maybe I'll try Ermor.

At least Ermor doesn't have much trouble underwater.

[PvK]

Still sounds like an amusing challenge to me. Air and/or water will do to make underwater-breathing magic items. Then you can take the Maenads for some scuba combat, reducing their food consumption and eventually getting you an underwater foothold.

PvK