Middle Age Crisis ,CBM1.94+Assimilation mod 1.1 6/8 Players Remaining

[Minor Kitty]

This game is intended to be a entry level game. To give some guidance I would say fewer than 10 MP games is a good cutoff point. I've got no experience but I'm sure that human players can't be much harder than AIs.

Players 10, Hosted on Llamaserver
Map: Cradle of Dominion

CBM 1.94
Assimilation 1.1 (needs patching for EA but otherwise fine)
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showt...t=assimilation

Proposed Rules:
Research: Standard
Gold: 400
Starting provinces: 1
Sites: 75
Hosting: Every 24 hours for 21 turns, then votes can be called for a change
All others' standard.

Diplomacy: Trades binding. Doubtlessly word shall reach every tavern that a pretender has dishonored him/herself by breaking a treaty (that is I or the admin will message everyone about it).

Assimilation mod allows the recruitment of some flavor units (but never elite) from the capitals of conquered nations.

All standard exploits banned: Bogarus orders, autospawn locking forts, filling labs, pining armies with retreating scouts.

All nations free.

Players (6/8)
American Foreign Policy: Abysia
Ossa: Marignon
Tivavals: Agartha
Hereward: Vanheim
Ossa: Ulm
Sluagh: Ermor
Krpeter: Bandar Log
Googly1: Mictlan

[galahad]

I would like to join with the Coming of the Capricorns: Oceania.

Havent played an underwater nation yet, time to give it a try.

[Ossa]

I'd like to join with Marignon.

[Tiavals]

Agartha for me, if I can join. I haven't actually finished 10 multiplayer games, but I've started roughly that amount.

[Hereward]

Hail, I submit myself with Vanheim. First real MP game.

[parone]

ill take ulm. been in 5 mp or so. been owned in each and every one of them

[krpeters]

Seeing as we have both Marignon and Oceania playing, I assume we're in MA.

I've played half a dozen MP games, but I suck. I have a strategy for Bandar Log I'd like to try. But what I really need is an anti-SC strategy. How do you take out an SC who buffs himself in the back for the first 5 turns, making it impossible for you to stellar cascade him?

[parone]

krpeters, im with you. im almost helpless vs SC.

our host, however, has some good tips vs minor thugs

[Tiavals]

Use flying troops that attack him before he can buff himself(provided he doesn't have bodyguards). That way he must melee and can't cast.

Also, using thugs is good too, if he's geared against normal dudes. Mistform and etherealness are useless against magic weapons, and armor is useless against armor negating and piercing weapons. Get multiple attacks if possible to lower defense, or attack upgrade items.

As for spells, immobilization and such spells work well with thugs, since it lowers defence, which is the biggest problem for thugs against SCs.

If you feel lucky, you can use those insta-kill crossbows and armor negating crossbows and so on.

All in all, magic items is the way to go, I think.

Then again, I've never truly faced any SCs in a game, this is just extrapolation. :P

[Minor Kitty]

Let's see Berserker pelt: 5 nature gems that can be forged by indies

Dual weld AP/affliction weapons : 10 earth gems/10 virgins, forged by most low level guys or indie earth mages.

A mounted/large chassis: 50-100g

PD/party: 150g-250g

Add in a load of small guys to swarm the SC and take hits from your thug and you can kill most early-mid level guys this way.
Feel free to tweak it with more thugs/better equipped ones or w/e.
A bonus if the swarm is summoned since it won't affect the thug's unit morale, but then you'd have to bring support units. Ideally you get swarm which costs 1N to cast at ALT LVL 4, doable by any indy mage: 20 little buggers to take hits and bring down DEF.

Total cost: 5 earth gems + 10 variety gems, and 200-300g
Doable for any nation even with indies for a party(PD if you prefer), disposable and it could be re-equipped as a raiding party.



Tag team of 2x2 scouts with piercers and vine bows (fire bolas/bane fire crossbows if no nature). 2 vines to immobilize and 2 piercers to kill. You can have them with your army or hidden for a nasty surprise and all it requires is level 2 in cons. Upgrade it into mid game with ethereal crossbow for an additional 10 gems(vision's foe for air if astral's not available) from cons 4 and eyes of aiming.

That's right, stealthy teams of scouts that are impossible to target individually in your PD crowds. Paranoia much?

Total cost: 80g,10 nature gems ,and 10 variety gems. (+10 astral mid game)

Scalable throughout the game, requires no castle recruits and can be mass produced on the fly. Fold them back into your army as elephant/Calvary killers after your done.


Note the emphasis on reaction time and nature gems/mages. Something everyone has that can be produced on the fly as opposed to ad hoc responses that require time and money to setup.

An early to mid game SC is usually fully decked out at the cost of 5-10 gems per slot and considerable recruiting/summoning cost. That's roughly 50 gems worth of equipment they have to construct with 7 mage turns and get to the front. That's a few hundred gold, dozens of research pts, and upkeep they could be using elsewhere while you create a counter in a single turn for much less.

By late game I expect you to have your own counter SCs or be dead.