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In Progress Let's See the World Die. Dominions 4.

Johannes

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Why didn't you conquer Valkyrie Peak on this turn as well? That's a seriously huge expansion party, 2 commanders and all.
 

Grimwulf

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Why didn't you conquer Valkyrie Peak on this turn as well? That's a seriously huge expansion party, 2 commanders and all.

Why woukd I? And who do you suggest to send conquering Valkyrie Peaks? Hangadrott hasn't arrived yet, Crispy doesn't have any units, or the Leadership for that matter. I could have split availiable helhird, huskarls and serfs into two armies and send Everett there on previous turn, instead of accompaning Codex Troll. But I decided to let him search The Hanging Tree province (no features there, simple plains) for air gems instead. Two reasons for that:

1. Valkyrie peaks is a mountain, which means higher chance of magic site spam. I want someone capable search it. Everett is just A1H1, he doesn't qualify. Hangadrott will do it.
2. It fits perfectly in my moving plan.
- Turn 6: Troll gets Resting Shore Province, Hangadrott arrives at Helheim; Everett Searches, I hire a Vanjarl in Helheim
- Turn 7: Troll gets Misty Hollow province, Hangadrott gets Valkyrie peaks, Everett attacks Dead Snows on his own with a "retreat" order (I want a clear picture on that), I hire some units in Helheim;
- Turn 8: Troll gets Chillmoor, Hangadrott searches, I hire some more stuff if needed
- Turn 9: We all merrily attack Dead Snows together: Troll, Hangadrott and reinforcements from Helheim. As a cohesive unit.

If I've sent Everett at Valkyrie Peaks, Troll would PROBABLY have a hard time conquering all those provinces with just half of forces he's got now. And frankly, I don't know what should I do with Hangadrott on next turn, if Valkyrie Peaks were conquered already. Err, go there anyway to search?
 

Johannes

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Well, your expansion's really slow, simply put. You don't get nearly as much gold (and following that, less research, less gems, less troops...) as you could. Getting Dwarves and Hangadrotts so early is not a priority, nor is sitesearching - sitesearching is commonly started when you've somewhat established your borders, for now gold is much more important, as is research. There's easily enough guys there to make 2 decent expansion parties, and you already had a turn with zero conquest.

Though I understand of course that this isn't meant to be the showcase of the most efficient play ever, starting with the pretender.
 

Grimwulf

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Well, your expansion's really slow, simply put. You don't get nearly as much gold (and following that, less research, less gems, less troops...) as you could. Getting Dwarves and Hangadrotts so early is not a priority, nor is sitesearching - sitesearching is commonly started when you've somewhat established your borders, for now gold is much more important, as is research. There's easily enough guys there to make 2 decent expansion parties, and you already had a turn with zero conquest.

I know.

Before I start, there are words of warning need to be said:

1. I think I qualify as a vet of Dominions 3 and 4 in both single and pbem games, but thanks to severe cases of amnesia and alcoholism, I kinda lost my grip lately. Besides, during this game session I plan to try out something more or less original. After all, Dominions is a game about Ideas, no matter how crazy and laughable they might be. That being said, if anybody hopes to find some decent tactics, strategies and pro-tips – don’t.

Turn 4 already, and I still have just one province, apart from my capital. Frankly speaking, this is pathetic.

If anybody still doubts: this Pretender design and "style" of play are absolutely worthless in pbem.

This whole LP is a personal experiment of mine. I want to try out some ideas that were circling around my head for quite some time. Up to this point, I refuse to admit that I made any strategical mistakes, considering Global Plan that I'm following right now.

Expansion in this one won't be grand. It will stiop relatevely soon actually, and I'll have to go full defence. If I calculated everything right, I will only need to build one fortification. But even if I'm wrong, then it will be two at most.

My population is already dying faster than I wish it would, but after casting BoT, there will be no one left in like a dozen of turn. I mean, literally. Zero gp per turn. Death 3 scale + Cold 3 scale + Misfortune 3 scale + BoT = goodbye, sweet income. If I hire a shitton of researchers and commanders, I will have to kill them anyway at some point. Same goes for fortifications. Why would I need them if I got no money to hire stuff?

I always found experimenting in Dominions more fun than min-maxing and optimizing same strategies and gamestyles, over and over again, in pbem. Actually, I find diplomacy to be the best part of pbem sessions. And don't have the balls to take my experiments there.
 

Johannes

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Actually, you should focus on getting as many commanders out while you can, as indeed you won't be able to hire new ones after a while (it'll take a couple of years for incomes to zero though, one year shouldn't even halve them yet). The more stuff you have out before your upkeep reaches your income, the better.
 

Grimwulf

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it'll take a couple of years for incomes to zero though, one year shouldn't even halve them yet.

Can't argue on that. Been too long since last time I played the game, so I can only rely on my blurry MA Ermor memories. Besides, there should be plenty of fat enemy provinces, including capitals. They may provide a temporary source of income at some points.

Still, won't need a shitton of commanders if I make a decent death gem income early enough. And after casting Well of Misery I won't need any gold or alive commanders/units at all. The trick is to survive that long :D
 

Azira

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Damnit! See what you made me go and do....
6tI034o.jpg
 

Grimwulf

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I’ve got a question for all you readers. Those pics I post – can you enlarge them on click? I hope that function works for everyone, not just me as pic-hoster.

Nostalgia strike has hit me just now. If I ever miss any mod from Dom 3, then it will be “Streamers & Standarts” mod. I don’t have a single clue why it was never ported to Dominions 4. Look at Helheim banners in different versions:

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Now look me in the eye and say you don’t like “Streamers & Standarts” version. It fucking nails Helheim (and does equally great job with other nations too). Imagine this banner hovering over all those cold, misty, silent provinces with 0 population, and no living creatures whatsoever, except for occasional crows. Yeah, I know, vanilla Dom 4 has rather decent banners as well, unlike utterly ugly banners of vanilla Dominions 3. But still.

What? LP update? Yea, I got carried away. So, a short passage on magic and fatigue (skip it if you don’t give a fuck):

Remember those games, where you and your allies can faint, or be knocked out, or enter some “CRITICAL WOUND URRRGH heal pls” state, while all enemies SUDDENLY start ignoring those near-dead ones, and switch to others? Well, if you fall in Dominions, rest assured – you’re gonna be slaughtered joyfully.

To prevent this, it is essential to keep an eye on fatigue. The lower – the better. Once it hits 100 or more – you fall. If you fall, you might as well start praying. A LOT of factors affect fatigue:

- Heavy armour makes you hhrrnngghh;

- Old age. The older you get, the more fatigue it takes to move your ass around (hey, just like IRL!);

- Flying units are exhausted much faster;

- Bad weather and climate;

- Magic and some status effects;

- Some traits, like Trample;

- Etc.

Encumbrance value can usually give you the average picture. The more Encumbrance unit has – the faster he will run out of Fatigue and become exhausted. 10 is max, while 0 value means that unit will never get tired, UNLESS he is casting magic. Casting magic always takes away some fatigue, no matter what.

And then we have all dat magic. Some are fatigue-costy, while others – not so much. In general, the more level in appropriate magic path you have, the less fatigue you will spend on spells. And then we have specific spells, quite a lot of them, intended for “cast-and-faint” use. Like this one:

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Curious enough, your mage won’t get a 600 fatigue hit, like the description states. When a mage casts any spell solo, his fatigue can’t go beyond value of 200 (still a bitch tho, coz you need less than 100, in order to do anything). Then why there are so many spells with fatigue 200, 300, 400, 600? Because of Communions and Sabbaths, that’s why. I will go VERY briefly on them, but these topics are very deep indeed (the rest is to be found In manuals).

Communions and Sabbaths are two different methods of uniting several mages in one “hivemind”. All mages in Communions and Sabbaths can be either Slaves or Masters. Slaves can’t do shit, take all the fatigue hits, and give all their powers to Masters. Masters gain additional magic levels and don’t spend fatigue on casting. All buffs affect the whole Comm/Sabb. The more Slaves Comm/Sabb has – the more power receive the Masters. Slaves in Comm/Sabb don’t faint when they run out of fatigue. They fucking DIE.

And finally: any fallen sucker can be finished off with a pitchfork. No matter what armour or superpowers he has. However, fatigue is fully restored after every battle.

If your brain isn’t burning yet, then maybe you should play the game yourself!


TURN 6

EARLY FALL IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE ASCENSION WARS

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Researchin’ like a king
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So, Everett. Can’t find air – that’s a whole new level of pathetic. Whatever.

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The battle went rather smoothly. This time neutrals didn’t charge ahead at full speed and tried to show some tactics. Tactics my ass. I’ve seen better from my 5-year old nephew playing with toy soldiers.

Anyway, neutrals tried to surprise my right flank with milita, while hitting central shieldwall with heavy infantry, in slow-ass fashion.

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That lead to Codex Troll being unable to cast Smite on second turn (not enough range). So here we go with Holy Avenger again.

Helhird did some good job tho.

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They attacked every enemy squad at once, splitting themselves between enemies effectively. Just a few guys managed to escape their hoofs and spears. The only way they could perform even better, is FOLLOW MY FUCKING ORDERS! Ffuck. Maybe I should do something about morale in this army.

At least, everyone is level 1 now. Including Codex Troll himself.

So, what kind of Hangadrott did we get?

Since nobody gives a damn about names, I called him Penda.

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Seems appropriate enough. I’m pretty sure he was the last pagan king in the world IRL. If we speak old Germanic gods, at least. But feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

Anyway, Penda is considered relatively mysterious historical figure, and he was as badass as they come. Besides, records say he is grand-grand-grand-whatever-son of Woden. WODEN! Penda rocks.

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And it’s a A3D3H2 Hangadrott. That’s good. I had ideas for any Hangadrott I would roll, but A3D3 is perfect as my first one. Because he is just what I need for gem search.

Last turn I hired a helhirding (which makes two of them, including one that was already awaiting), 5 spear huskarls and 5 serf warriors. That should be enough to get my holy hands on Valkyrie Peaks province, besides, I even managed to save 124 gp from last turn.

Due to relatively small army and absence of decent combat magic, I need Penda to participate in this one personally.

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Do it, old man. It’s been too long since you spilled some heretic blood.

Together with Penda, we shall face militia and heavy infantry. All in all, I’m satisfied with current situation. Unless there is something bad coming.

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Oh, godfkndammit, Jon Snow. What now?

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I thought as much. Do you see now? That’s exactly what I was talking about in previous update. Vanir games. Breaking news! Vanheim armies consist of fucking WOODSMEN! That is the end of the world as we know it! Fuck you, Jon Snow.

Another news!

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Codex Troll moves on to Misty Hollow, Penda conquers Valkyrie Peak, Crispy does some searching, and Everett attacks Dead Snows. He has an “immidiate retreat” order tho. I want to see an accurate report on that army, not Jon Snow’s version.

Money business. I hire a standard human commander in Helgate (like the ones I’ve been beatin’) and also a Vanjarl in Helheim.

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You know what they say. That the Jarl can’t keep things under control.



SWAG

Ahem. It’s been half a year already. All that time I had only King Grimwulf on research. I’m afraid, I can no longer allow myself to relax like that. This, lady and gentlemen, is our current research graph:

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We are only interested in three upper lines: the grey one, the yellow one and the… ugh, why doesn’t google translate give me a correct name of this color? Lapis fucking lazuli.

So, the cool grey one is me. That gay-ish lapis lazuli is Arcoscephale. Introducing right now.

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Interesting facts: in Late Ages that nation has BATTLE GAY units. That’s one of the reasons I’m trying to end the world in Early Ages.

So, Arcoscephale reached my research level, and even has a higher research speed right now. But both of us were left behind by – who would have thought – Kailasa. A nation. Of smartass. Apes.

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For the record: no, Kailasa doesn’t actually resemble “Planet of the Apes” one bit. Well. Maybe a tiny little bit. The pic is there just for lulz, and coz I’m too drunk to find something more appropriate on the web. In fact, Kailasa was influenced by Indian culture and mythology.

Of all nations participating in the current session, only Kailasa and Arcoscephale can make some real research trouble for me. You see, one of the main reasons to rush BoT, is that nobody would be able to counter it. How can you deal with unwanted global spells:

1. Kill the caster. Good fucking luck with that.

2. Cast new global spells. There can be no more than five in the world, but it is possible to replace old ones with new ones.

3. Dispel it. And that’s the problem.

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Dispel is Enchantment 5 spell. Which means, somebody should rush it to obtain on par with my BoT. It requires S3 caster, which is somewhat rare in EA, but Arcoscephale and Kailasa both have them. And it needs a shitton of astral pearls in order to work. Once again, Arcos and Kailasa should have enough. So if anyone can dispel my BoT – it’s them.

Can I make it in time? Maybe. Maybe not. In any case, we Vanir fight to the last man. Helhalla awaits!
 
Last edited:

Grimwulf

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Damnit! See what you made me go and do....

Damn, 15 euro bites. It was way cheaper during discounts. It is also sold on Desura, although I'm not sure if it's cheaper there.

Anyway, don't blame me! I told ye to keep distance in post №1. Feel free to ask them questions tho. Sometimes, official manual is not enough.
 

Azira

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Only made it to page 57 so far. Didn't stop me from playing (and winning) a game against the AI on a small map. Will definitely play some more with this, but I'm barely scraping the surface as is, so I'll probably just follow the LP for now.
 

SmartCheetah

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Humm. Can someone tell me, if you eg. pick the first era, are you actually able to advance towards middle/late eras in that game? Or picking the era works basicly for whole game, and my Ermor guys won't become undeads at some point?
 

Grimwulf

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Humm. Can someone tell me, if you eg. pick the first era, are you actually able to advance towards middle/late eras in that game? Or picking the era works basicly for whole game, and my Ermor guys won't become undeads at some point?

A session can only be played in one era. You don't advance.

EA = Early Ages
MA = Middle Ages
LA = Late Ages
 

Grimwulf

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Forgot to show you starting points of Kailasa and Arcoscephale during last update. Here you go (“A” for Arcos, “K” for Kailasa):

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No more tutorials. I’m pretty sure that we have covered all the basics by now. I will address some other minor aspects of the game when needed, but not gonna make any more intro-spoilers.

I’ve got a world to destroy.

TURN 7

FALL IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE ASCENSION WARS

Reading monthly reports is basically half of the job being a God. So exhausting.

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It is especially hard when it comes to Caelum names. I swear, they are not right in the head.

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I can imagine an average day in Caelum maternity hospital:

- Congratulations! You have a baby eaglet! How shall you name him?
- I don’t care. I only hope no one will be able to pronounce it, just for lulz.
- Is Knaghrkoffeasaskvatch ok?
- Nah, it’s my husband’s name. He is a dick.

Assigning Eagle King as a prophet is pretty damn stupid, too. I can’t recall any H2 commander type that is a viable candidate for this role, except for a couple unique national heroes. But, Eagle King? An A4 mage? As if he doesn’t have any other usage. Sometimes AI makes no sense.

Let’s see some action. Starting with Codex Troll.

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Barbarians are fucking hardcore, as far as EA neutral units go.

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Raw dmg output in high numbers is insane. I can’t begin to describe how many noob armies were wiped out by these guys. Thankfully, they do have one weakness – Undisciplined trait, that prevents them from fighting in any other formation, apart from “skirmish” (-2 to morale). They also don’t follow any orders, and just YOLO CHARGE at you right from the start.

When units with this:

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Charge forward like this:

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It usually ends like this:

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I only had to kill a bunch of them, so the others would fail morale check. So, the entire bigass squad of barbs ran away, while our javelins, spears and hoofs were scratching their backs. Not in a gentle way.

“Grimwulf, you old boring fuck. Stop babblin’ about barbarians already”.

I’m not that old, jackass! And I’m getting to the point. Here we go with Everett’s report:

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For all you sclerotics, a reminder: last turn I’ve sent Everett to attack Dead Snows (province with a Throne) and gave a “turn 1: retreat” order. Now I have all the numbers at the cost of Everett’s dignity. A bargain to kill for.

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This fight is gonna be a bitch. A big one, too. So here we have barbs, heavy infantry and phantasmal warriors. The last one are Ethereal (hard to hit with non-magical weapons), but thankfully, only have 1 hp and average stats.

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The bad news is 50 morale. Meaning, they will never run. However, being magical creatures, they will dissolve as soon as their commander is dead/retreating.

Damn. This is too much beef for me, unless…

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Interesting. Seems like heavy infantry is assigned to bodyguard duty, while barbs and phantasms charge ahead. We can also see that one of the sorceress (Wanda, in black robes) is not guarded as well as the other one (Meliath, in blue robes). Their magic schools would tell a lot to pro-players, but not to me.

Wanda has F1E1S2D1

Meliath has A2S2D3

I don’t think that neutrals have any research activity going. Instead, each neutral magic caster is given random spells, based on his magic schools. I have no idea what are these bitches going to cast, once they finish wasting turns on buffing. But I didn’t feel like sacrificing Everett just to find this out.

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I am going to need one big shieldwall here, coz barbs actually do a lot of damage if they don't flee. Hmm, send all cavalry attack right flank (Wenda and her bodyguards), hoping that they will switch to Meliath right after that. If I was a bit smarter, a would order Everett to retreat on second turn, just to see what would those bitches do. Eh? Am I mumbling shit again? Sorry.

So far, so good. How is my buddy Penda faring?

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Nice job. No casualties, except for human noobs, which we don’t count. I want details tho.

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Here is a nice illustration of why you want an H3 guy. Coz he can cast Divine Blessing. Simple Blessing has a decent aoe, but can still miss. I’ve put Penda and both helhirdings on the same square during formation management, but in battle they may start a bit away from each other. Can’t predict the little things.

Anyway, Penda blesses himself (which is pretty hilarious, methinks) and one of them helhirdings, casts Holy Avenger just in case, then charges ahead like a badass.

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As you see, Hangadrotts have a more powerful version of Glamour. Can’t have too many images of Penda.

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If anybody’s collecting: the miniature’s name is “PENDA THE BLOODY-HANDED, WARRIOR-KING OF MIERCE ON HORSE”, just google it ftw

When you click on “morale” stat of a unit, you can also see his individual kill count. During this ONE short battle, Penda single-handedly killed 4 poor bastards.

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Just for comparison: after all these 7 long months, Codex Troll killed 9.

4 frags provide Penda with a place in Hall of Fame, and Heroic Defence ability. That is grand, for his defence will be SKYHIGH from now on:

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Combine it with blessing, give him time to gain some levels, remember about Glamour, and you get virtually impossible-to-hit commander. Did I say that Heroic Ability improves, as long as you stay in Hall of Fame, giving you even larger boost?

If you want to play Dominions 4 with one finger, then it’s better be the F1 finger. Whatever you do, however you play, you should ALWAYS keep your F1 finger in good shape. Coz the more you press F1 button, the better player you are.

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This is what it does – brings all the text & numbers you need. Here you can see who does what, review yer orders, and view each province stats. Once your F1 finger gets weak, your game is doomed.

So, back to Everett. When escaping the battle, commanders and units flee to randomly chosen, allied, neighboring provinces. I was hoping that Everett runs to Helheim, like any sane person would do, but he decided to go for Valkyrie Peak instead. Just to gaze at Penda, and waste a turn, I guess.

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Penda himself is ordered to search. Still need one more air gem per turn, and a shitton of death gems as well. Come on, Valkyrie Peak, give me something to work with! Because Crispy can’t find shit. This svartalf is really pushing it.

Both Crispy and Codex Troll are ordered to attack Chillmoor. I don’t expect any difficulties there, but it is quite possible that Ulm will attack it from Midvale as well. In that case, things might get complicated.

This turn I have no gold left whatsoever. I don’t even have 2 gold pounds to hire minimal province defences for Valkyrie Peak and Misty Hollows. They just have to bare this situation with me.

600 gold went for Palisades building in Helgate. I should have bumped up defence to level of 10, for AI Caelum tends to spam this spell a lot:

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Summoned birdies are able to easily grab low-defence provinces. Usually province defence of 10 is enough to fend them off. But I’d rather take the risk of losing province; 600 gold investment; and Gordon Cageman; than wait one more turn. Gordon is my immigrant-builder man. He is there to build stuff until he dies.

The rest of gold was spent on 4 serf warriors in Helheim. Not much, but it’s all I got. Vanjarl Balgruuf will lead them to Dead Snows soon. I plan to attack this province with everything I got on turn 9. Expecting major casualties, but still.

Basically, that’s it. You may go read something more interesting, and I’ll meet ya at another update (hope so).

In case you don’t mind hangin’ around for a while longer, let me invite you to War Council meeting. Here we have lots of ale and lots of in-depth planning and analysis. Your advices and/or opinion are always welcome.

Seriously. You don’t have to read this part, it’s not as entertaining as actual events.

First of all, let’s discuss Vanheim. Here is what we know:

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But considering it’s Jon Snow’s information, well…

All right. The basic principle of AI behavior: he never stops facerolling. Since Dwarvesbarrow and Giant's Throne are still neutral, he expanded somewhere else. It’s either south, towards Oceania (yellow arrows), or south-east, towards Marverni (blue arrows). Either way is more than acceptable for Helheim.

One thing has to be considered, though. Look at Jon Snows previous report:

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40 woodsmen, yeah. Let us face it: Vanheim’s army was standing in Bitter Woods last month. Maybe it’s still there, and ready to attack us (red arrows). Those woodsmen are just neutral suckers, hired “on the go” in neutral provinces, as a compliment to vanirs (whom Jon Snow can't recognize). Hell, we would do the same, if only we had spare gold.

The question is, was it their main force or supportive one? If it was the latter, then maybe we could bump up some of our coastal provinces defences. Let’s say, to 20. If we “saw” the main army (with Prophet leader), then it’s gonna be a waste of gold.

But before we decide on actual actions, here is another riddle: what kind of Pretender does Vanheim have? Jon can’t see him in capital, and judjing by small amount of candles and dominion score graph:

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he hasn’t awaken yet. Looking at small amount of abstract-ish titles, that’s probably dormant/imprisoned scale-based pretender. That means a LOT of forces and a LOT of trouble for us. I don’t think province defence would help even against shit-tier Vanheim squads.

Let’s try to be optimistic. Maybe they lost their forces, attempting to conquer Throne province, Dwarvesbarrow? If so, then Throne defender would have DEFINETELY made it to Hall of Fame. That’s an entire army(ies) he wiped out, after all. Let’s see:

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Ok, excluding every mercenary, every Prophet, and ourselves (obviously not Throne defenders). Neutral guy Hremfing only has 12 exp, and he is already dead. If someone was able to beat major Vanheim forces, he or she would gain at least 20 exp. We are left with three entries: neutral Onder
(in most cases, Thrones are defended by more or less powerful mages, leading large number of units, like our Meliath&Wanda girls)
, Nusku and Aklozabaoth. The latter ones are Throne defenders, not a single doubt about that. Remember Bodvar “bug”? That’s the case right here, as well. Both Nusku and Aklowhatever have more exp than prophets of their respective nations – no way IN HELL they would be “secondary commanders”. They are Pretender-type-units, defending Thrones of Ascension. That makes a total of three possible candidates. But if Vanheim took a beating from one of them, wouldn’t we see it on score graphs? Of course we would!

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Hmm, his army size is third among the Pretenders. Shit, I can’t work with that. Give me a clear picture!

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Thanks a bunch. Well. Somebody sure lost their armies to Throne defenders. But it wasn’t Vanheim. In fact, judging by this graphic, Vanheim didn’t lose a single battle. We’ve probably lost more men than he ever did.

Ulm and Marverni go on par. Come to think of it, Caelum and Ermor are probably givin’ Ulm some trouble already, or he would attacked us or Marverni by now.

And Caelum… I swear by myself, if we don’t finish Palisades in time, we are fucked. To lose a capital at early game means to lose the War. So, what was about “an average nation”? On first army graphic we can see a MAJOR dropdown in Kailasa army (yellow line). I can bet my left eye, it was fucking Caelum attack.

Let us pretend we are not terrified by it, and return to Vanheim. So, his army is over there, somewhere. It’s useless to hire province defence against those numbers. Besides, Ulm and Caelum are gonna be an issue in just a few turns as well. Here is what I think:

1. We assign no more than 1 province defence everywhere, except for Helgate. It needs 10, and maybe more, with time.

2. We hire Vanherses in Helgate every turn, as soon as we finish building. For research sake.

3. Time to plan an end of this expansion. Here be the borders:

web.jpg

- The green provinces are for Codex Troll to conquer and defend.

- The red ones for Penda to conquer, SEARCH, and defend.

- Balgruuf will reside in Helheim for research/blood hunt, but will move and fend off Caelum, if he tries to siege Helgate.

4. We hire SVD (Special Valkyrie Division). A squad of flying Valkyries. Starting from next turn, all money left from research will be spent on Valkyries. Being able to fly, they will provide backup for whoever needs them most, be it Codex Troll, Penda or Balgruuf.

5. Once we establish more or less decent army and defences, we try to attack Vanheim. We leave Ulm and Marverni alone, for they are much weaker than Vanheim or Caelum. We NEED weak south – they will protect us from Ermor, Sauromatia and half of Caelum, at the same time will not be a big threat themselves.

6. Caelum will be next-to-impossible to beat anytime soon. It’s gonna be much easier after Burden of Time. Vanir, on the other hand, have a much larger lifespan. Up to a thousand years. We’ll have to beat them on the battlefield. Might as well start sooner, than later.

Thank you for attention. That will be all for today.
 

Absalom

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What happens when two opposing armies attack a neutral province?
First in fights the neutrals then the second in fights the first (Or weakened neutrals if first failed.)

I was gonna type a long answer about how knowing movement phase turn order resolution and using it to your advantage (Setting up "defensive move traps" based on where you expect someone to go, as complicated as it sounds) is the biggest thing people need to learn to 'git gud' at Dom MP but apparently Dom4 dun changed all that so I dunno.
 

Grimwulf

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What happens when two opposing armies attack a neutral province?

In my case, if both me and Ulm attack Chillmoor, then one of us attacks it fist, and then the other one fights with whoever wins first round. Who makes it to the province first is determined randomly.

Movement principles is one large topic, and has many small things to it. Just like Absalom said, it's one those, that make you gud at the game. I see no way to give you the short version about the topic.

The basic thing is turn resolution sequence. As you remember, all turns in the game are "hosted" simultaniously. But this hosting has a strict procedure, a sequence. When you play the game long enough, you're starting to feel it. Until then it might be a good idea to keep this list handy:

Turn resolution sequence

All players’ turn orders are resolved simultaneously when a turn is hosted. During the hosting process, the game resolves orders in the following order:

1. Send messages
Messages sent by using the Send Messages button are dispatched. This means that gold, gems, and items are always sent, because everything that could stop this from happening occurs later in the turn.

2. Research
Mages perform their research. Even if a mage is assassinated or otherwisekilled, he will contribute his research points to his nation that turn.

3. Empowerment
Increased magic paths due to Empowerment are conferred here.

4. Recruitment
New units and commanders are recruited. This means that recruits will always be available during the turn, as nothing that happens beforehand can stop them.

5. Forge items
New items are forged and placed in their nation’s magic item inventory.

6. Preach
Priests preach the word of their god, and dominion is adjusted accordingly.

7. Heretic preaching
Heretics, insane commanders and commanders with shattered soul preach.

8. Claim thrones
Thrones of Ascension are claimed now.

9. Magic rituals
All mages cast their rituals in a random order.

10. Magic battles
All battles caused by magic are resolved. For example, commanders taken away by Wind Ride or teleporting to an enemy province fight now.

11. Lost in other planes
If a unit becomes lost in another plane, it happens now. This includes resolving battles fought in other planes.

12. Site searches
Magic site searches are resolved.

13. Prophets
Prophets are declared.

14. Call God
Priests call their gods who have been banished.

15. Awakening
Pretenders awaken (dormant or imprisoned)

16. Blood hunting
The hunt for blood slaves takes place.

17. Horrors
Units are visited by Horrors now, if such a misfortune should befall them.

18. Assassinations
Assassination attempts are resolved. The battles are fought immediately.

19. Raid
Units with the Raid order perform that here.

20. Relinquish province
Commanders with the Relinquish Province order will relinquish the province to any non-stealthed allied commander already present in the same province.

21. Friendly movement
All movement ending in a friendly province takes place now. If you are trying to get to a friendly province before an enemy does, you will do it if you are not stopped by an event that takes place in steps 1 through 11.

22. Other movement
All other movement, including Break Siege, takes place.

23. Resolve battles
All battle resolution from movement happens here.

24. Castle storming
Castles are stormed and battles resolved.

25. Global enchantments
Global enchantments take effect on the world. Note that the casting takes place during the Rituals step (9), though.

26. Random events
Like it says. This is where those Fortune/Misfortune events happen.

27. Resolve any battles
Battles caused by these events happen now.

28. Magic items/monsters
Special effects from magic items (or monsters) take place. The items themselves are forged during the Forge step (5), though. If any of these effects result in any battles, they are resolved now.

29. Sneak discovery
Stealthy units have been discovered! If so, they fight now for their lives.

30. Change besieger
If two allies are besieging the same castle, the one who is besieging is decided now. Larger armies take precedence.

31. Building construction
Fortresses, temples, and labs are built (or demolished).

32. Special orders
Special order like Reanimate or Summon Allies are performed. Thus, allies summoned during a turn will not be available for that turn’s battles.

33. Pillage
The Pillage order increases unrest and kills population.

34. Income
All nations collect income for their provinces. Note that this comes after Pillage, meaning that if you pillage a province you conquered, you will gain reduced income from it, or perhaps no income at all.

35. Unrest alterations
Changes in unrest from dominion, scales, and patrolling are reflected.

36. Starvation
Units without supplies suffer starvation effects. This means that the first turn an army goes without supplies, it will fight its battles without starvation effects, since all battles occur in previous steps.

37. Upkeep / Desertion
Unit upkeep is paid for. Note that this is after income is collected for the turn. Desertion happens now as well.

38. Dominion spread
All dominion spread (for whatever reason) is conducted now.

39. Dominion effects
Special effects of dominion (population death, insanity, spreading heat or cold etc.) are applied.

40. Site effects
Magic sites spread disease, unrest, and the like, if they have such an effect.

41. Overpopulation
A rare occurrence: if there are over 150,000 units in the world, some of the most numerous ones will be killed to keep the game running smoothly.

42. Aging
Units age.

43. Resolve battles
Any leftover battles caused by previous events are resolved.

44. Heal / Disease
All units regain lost hit points, unless they are diseased, in which case they suffer more damage instead and may incur more afflictions.

45. Insanity
Units may go insane, from certain dominion or other effects.

46. Mercenaries
Mercenaries are bought or maintained.

47. New random heroes
Heroes may appear at a nation's capital gates.

48. Kill lone units
Lone units (non-commanders) in enemy provinces are killed. If there are units without commanders inside enemy territory they will be killed here to prevent them from making any pointless attacks.

49. Reclaim provinces
If a fort does not own the province it is in and it is not under siege, it will take ownership of the province. This can happen in team games where the province and the fort might have different owners from the same team. This step is resolved in favor of the owner of the fort.

50. Scouting
New scouting reports are generated for each player.

51. Elimination
Players without any provinces or dominion are eliminated from the game.

52. Victory
If a victory condition is fulfilled, the game declares a winner and ends.

53. Update stats
Hall of Fame and scoregraphs are updated.

54. Heroic abilities
Units gain and improve heroic abilities.

55. Reduce PD
Province defense is reduced if the population cannot support the current level. At least 10 population is required for each point of province defense.

56. Aftermath
The game validates orders and items, changes shapes if necessary, places killed immortals back on the map, etc.

Also, no more ale during War Councils. Now that I read it again, that was one shitty analysis.
 
Last edited:

Johannes

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What happens when two opposing armies attack a neutral province?
First in fights the neutrals then the second in fights the first (Or weakened neutrals if first failed.)

I was gonna type a long answer about how knowing movement phase turn order resolution and using it to your advantage (Setting up "defensive move traps" based on where you expect someone to go, as complicated as it sounds) is the biggest thing people need to learn to 'git gud' at Dom MP but apparently Dom4 dun changed all that so I dunno.
I don't think anything's changed in Dom3 -> 4 in this respect.
 

Grimwulf

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What happens when two opposing armies attack a neutral province?
First in fights the neutrals then the second in fights the first (Or weakened neutrals if first failed.)

I was gonna type a long answer about how knowing movement phase turn order resolution and using it to your advantage (Setting up "defensive move traps" based on where you expect someone to go, as complicated as it sounds) is the biggest thing people need to learn to 'git gud' at Dom MP but apparently Dom4 dun changed all that so I dunno.
I don't think anything's changed in Dom3 -> 4 in this respect.

Dominions 3 had a slightly different turn resolution sequence. But I don't think there were any major changes. It was somewhat uncomfy to change the way of thinking, fight the old habits and such (e.g., in Dom3 the Very First thing was recruitment, in Dom4 it is research, etc), but the new TRS isn't that different.
unless my memory is going retard again
 

Absalom

Guest
What happens when two opposing armies attack a neutral province?
First in fights the neutrals then the second in fights the first (Or weakened neutrals if first failed.)

I was gonna type a long answer about how knowing movement phase turn order resolution and using it to your advantage (Setting up "defensive move traps" based on where you expect someone to go, as complicated as it sounds) is the biggest thing people need to learn to 'git gud' at Dom MP but apparently Dom4 dun changed all that so I dunno.
I don't think anything's changed in Dom3 -> 4 in this respect.

Dominions 3 had a slightly different turn resolution sequence. But I don't think there were any major changes. It was somewhat uncomfy to change the way of thinking, fight the old habits and such (e.g., in Dom3 the Very First thing was recruitment, in Dom4 it is research, etc), but the new TRS isn't that different.
unless my memory is going retard again
Also they changed how much terrain effected movement.
 

Grimwulf

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What happens when two opposing armies attack a neutral province?
First in fights the neutrals then the second in fights the first (Or weakened neutrals if first failed.)

I was gonna type a long answer about how knowing movement phase turn order resolution and using it to your advantage (Setting up "defensive move traps" based on where you expect someone to go, as complicated as it sounds) is the biggest thing people need to learn to 'git gud' at Dom MP but apparently Dom4 dun changed all that so I dunno.
I don't think anything's changed in Dom3 -> 4 in this respect.

Dominions 3 had a slightly different turn resolution sequence. But I don't think there were any major changes. It was somewhat uncomfy to change the way of thinking, fight the old habits and such (e.g., in Dom3 the Very First thing was recruitment, in Dom4 it is research, etc), but the new TRS isn't that different.
unless my memory is going retard again
Also they changed how much terrain effected movement.

You mean river and mountain crossings? "Orange" and "Blue" neighbours? You are right, but that's totally map-specific.
 

Absalom

Guest
You mean river and mountain crossings? "Orange" and "Blue" neighbours? You are right, but that's totally map-specific.
It was a big enough deal that people have made mods reverting so idk
 

Johannes

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Messages
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What happens when two opposing armies attack a neutral province?
First in fights the neutrals then the second in fights the first (Or weakened neutrals if first failed.)

I was gonna type a long answer about how knowing movement phase turn order resolution and using it to your advantage (Setting up "defensive move traps" based on where you expect someone to go, as complicated as it sounds) is the biggest thing people need to learn to 'git gud' at Dom MP but apparently Dom4 dun changed all that so I dunno.
I don't think anything's changed in Dom3 -> 4 in this respect.

Dominions 3 had a slightly different turn resolution sequence. But I don't think there were any major changes. It was somewhat uncomfy to change the way of thinking, fight the old habits and such (e.g., in Dom3 the Very First thing was recruitment, in Dom4 it is research, etc), but the new TRS isn't that different.
unless my memory is going retard again
Whether Research or Recruitment goes first has never any relevance to the player.


Movement was changed to be slower, so that moving from Normal to Difficult Terrain and vice versa slows you down. In Dom3 only Difficult -> Difficult gave penalty. But nothing to do with turn resolution.
 

Absalom

Guest
What happens when two opposing armies attack a neutral province?
First in fights the neutrals then the second in fights the first (Or weakened neutrals if first failed.)

I was gonna type a long answer about how knowing movement phase turn order resolution and using it to your advantage (Setting up "defensive move traps" based on where you expect someone to go, as complicated as it sounds) is the biggest thing people need to learn to 'git gud' at Dom MP but apparently Dom4 dun changed all that so I dunno.
I don't think anything's changed in Dom3 -> 4 in this respect.

Dominions 3 had a slightly different turn resolution sequence. But I don't think there were any major changes. It was somewhat uncomfy to change the way of thinking, fight the old habits and such (e.g., in Dom3 the Very First thing was recruitment, in Dom4 it is research, etc), but the new TRS isn't that different.
unless my memory is going retard again
Whether Research or Recruitment goes first has never any relevance to the player.


Movement was changed to be slower, so that moving from Normal to Difficult Terrain and vice versa slows you down. In Dom3 only Difficult -> Difficult gave penalty. But nothing to do with turn resolution.
When I said turn resolution, I meant how no battles are fought and no provinces change hands, until everyone has moved etc
 

Grimwulf

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You mean river and mountain crossings? "Orange" and "Blue" neighbours? You are right, but that's totally map-specific.
It was a big enough deal that people have made mods reverting so idk

Yep. I was one of those guys, who prefered "Glory of the Gods" map without all the river-mountain bullshit. At first, at least.

Whether Research or Recruitment goes first has never any relevance to the player.

In most cases, yes. As I said, you just had to change the way of thinking. If you play some mod with a nation that gives an oppurtunity to hire smth like Anti-Great-Sage (-1 to RP of all researchers in de province), then it would matter. Can't think of anything in vanilla, but still.

Some other changes in TRS had somewhot more noticable changes, but still minor. E.g., in Dom3 rituals are calculated before prayers. In Dom4 prayers come first. Not a big deal, but hey. Maybe some abstract nation has one last turn before domkill, and it wants to cast something NASTY before dissapearing forever. In Dom3 it was possible, in Dom4 - not always.

Movement was changed to be slower, so that moving from Normal to Difficult Terrain and vice versa slows you down. In Dom3 only Difficult -> Difficult gave penalty.

Yes. Forgot this one, I guess.
 

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