Question: Dragons in combat

[Gandalf Parker]

Someone with his early expansion locked down and unarguable?
Someone who marches pretty much everything out of his castle in the early game for maximum expansion figuring he doesnt need to worry until mid-game at earliest? Who figures he will see someone coming and can worry about defense then?

Why would such a person need to worry about Pangaea's invisible army?

The problem with it as an MP strategy would probably best be answered by some spreadsheet strategist. Im not that good with numbers so I cant quibble over the difference in costs of a few gold. I am sure that those folks can show you that the cost of creating and fielding an army that could take a castles basic defense AND be able to hold it against the returning home army MIGHT be possible but it would cripple you from actually being able to WIN the game so it is therefore a stupid strategy.

[Samhain]

Originally Posted by parone

u r probably right.

but god it'd be fun to try it. especially against some uber vet who was going to annihilate me anyway.
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Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

I am sure that those folks can show you that the cost of creating and fielding an army that could take a castles basic defense AND be able to hold it against the returning home army MIGHT be possible but it would cripple you from actually being able to WIN the game so it is therefore a stupid strategy.

This is why I often have the most fun playing when winning is no longer an option. Once the pressure to make every turn as efficient an effective as possible is off, you can relax and focus on whatever smacks your fancy; win just one more battle, kill an adversary's favorite SC, sack the lead nation's capital...

[Gandalf Parker]

Yeah I still have a lot of fun in Solo play.
Breaking things down to the most efficient path to a win doesnt interest me as much as coming up with fun twists. Dom3 is great for that. Lots of mods and maps and 3rd party programs to increase solo play.

Altho to be truthful I am spending most of my time now in the new Illwinter game Conquest of Elysium 3 which seems even more so. At least I am hoping it will be. So far it is still suffering from the change of location.

[Executor]

Brilliant strategy. Best I've heard. Bound to work. /wink wink/
Where do you come up with these things? And why?

[parone]

yeah. callahan and i were talking about that over on the other side. i personally don't really like efficiency/minmaxing etc. i understand it is how you become a really good player, but im not that interested in that. i just want to have fun.

unfortunately, some folks think that means you aren't playing 'right'. and i guess i understand that. if you were in a game with 5 serious players and you pulled that stunt with Pan, whoever you did it to might say, "why would you do that-you messed me up and gave yourself no chance to win-you are an idiot!!!)

my response would be "but it was FUN!!!"

but i guess if me having fun ruins it for someone else, that's no good either.

[Gandalf Parker]

Understood.
I have often been told what type of game dominions REALLY is, what the forum is REALLY for, and what should REALLY be done to make them that way.

Since Ive been in a position to affect such things, I have tried very hard to politely listen.

[Tiavals]

Well, usually people will want to play MP with those with a similar mindset. If 9 players out of 10 have decided on the type of game they want to play, and 1 is a troll who wants to ruin their game enters, there's clearly a conflict of interest. That's why people usually specify what sort of game it is they are hoping to play when they host a new game.

After all, competitive people find the most fun in playing competitively. To ruin the fun of another player is not a nice thing. If everyone else is in agreement as to what is the way to play they want to play, and have gathered around for the express purpose to play the game like that and have publicly announced it, it's incredibly rude to join their game and spoil it by playing in a way that's counter to that. It's equally rude for a super minmaxer to enter a game that's casual and leisurely, and just crush everyone with his unbeatable skill and abusing tactics.

In short, it's nice to play by the same rules as everyone else.

[Torgon]

There's no reason you can't both have fun and try to win. I've pulled off lots of fun stuff with stealthy raiders/elite forces while I'm trying to at least make a respectable showing. I'm no vet but I've had my share of victories. Stealth is extremely powerful, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Just don't be naive about being able to stealth entire armies around. It's just not really possible. You're going to get detected if you're moving more than a group of 10 or so units around with most leaders.

Stealthy armies just don't really work in practice. Resign yourself to that fact, and then go have lots of devious fun with Skaven's Vermin Lords, Man's powerful warden raiders, or Mothers leading teams of Moose around to hold up castle walls, or pangea's revelers leaving unrest in their wake, or flying morrigan teams plunging out of the clear sky.

Stealth is awesome and one of my favorite parts of the game, just be realistic about what it can do and can't do.

[Gandalf Parker]

Part of the problem seems to be that the great scouts and stealth armies of Pangaea dont mean much unless there is some extensive wilderness between the players capitals. The same with Pangaea Pan/Assassins which takes some time to do. Even their built-in preference for casting distance attacks.

OR using Caelums ability for checker-board movement. or the ability of some nations to use ships.

Most MP games are on maps too small or just not setup for such tactics. Some nations just strike me as more fun solo than effective mp. Just IMHO of course.

[JonBrave]

If the purpose of your stealth is to be hidden, I don't really see the point in SP. The program knows where you are so the AIs know too. In MP of course it's fine.