Age 79 Virtual Kingdom Draft

Hello.

The Virtual Kingdom will consists of the following:

A) A 25 province kingdom distributed as evenly possible regarding race & personality.

B) racial breakdown:
1, 2, 3, 4
Next race
5, 6, 7, 8
Next race
9, 10, 11, 12
Next race
13, 14, 15, 16
Next race
17, 18, 19
Next race
20, 21, 22
Next race
23, 24, 25

C) personality breakdown:
1, 2, 3, 4
Next persona
5, 6, 7
Next persona
8, 9, 10
Next persona
11, 12, 13
Next persona
14, 15, 16
Next persona
17, 18, 19
Next persona
20, 21, 22
Next persona
23, 24, 25

Thank you for your participation. I'll illustrate a draft I've worked on below.

Avian: warrior
Avian: warrior
Avian: warrior
Avian: paladin

Dwarf: undead
Dwarf: undead
Dwarf: undead
Dwarf: undead

Elf: mystic
Elf: mystic
Elf: mystic

Faery: heretic
Faery: heretic
Faery: heretic

Halfling: rogue
Halfling: rogue
Halfling: rogue
Halfling: paladin

Human: war hero
Human: war hero
Human: war hero

Orc: paladin
Orc: tactician*
Orc: tactician
Orc: tactician

Super hard now...but i'd go with

1 dwarf warrior
1 dwarf undead
2 dwarf heretic

3 halfling war hero
1 hafling paladin

2 Elf heretic
2 elf mystic

3 feary rogue
1 feary mystic

2 Human warrior
1 human paladin

2 orc undead
1 orc paladin

3 Avain tact


which is the largest crap shoot i've had.
my 3 avains would be dedicated chain finishers hitting for nearly 0 gains and just pouding the hell out of low def targets that need overpop.
my 3 paladins give me GP, TW, RM ---somewhat use full even if it requires a strange spread
orc/human is your big chains and get the war oriented offensive stuff.
---easy^^
--hard
leaves me with feary/elf/dwarf/halfer...good def/build space/ wpa/tpa mods.
Heretic i chose 2 elf since nm is hard, and i could keep 2 elf super mages
3 fearies get rogue because a rogue really shouldnt be growing and 1 extra high def mystic
Leaves me warhero i might as well dump on halfer so it can somewhat attack
and then dwarf as the catchall remains.

Avian: Tact
Avian: Tact
Avian: Tact
Avian: Paladin

Dwarf: Warrior
Dwarf: Warrior
Dwarf: Warrior
Dwarf: Rogue

Elf: mystic
Elf: mystic
Elf: War hero

Faery: heretic
Faery: heretic
Faery: heretic

Halfling: rogue
Halfling: rogue
Halfling: War hero
Halfling: paladin

Human: Mystic
Human: War hero
Human: Mystic

Orc: Paladin
Orc: Undead
Orc: Undead
Orc: Undead

Mystic gets my +1 pers.
Warrior and undead breakers. War heros happy to gobble honor. Paladins, mystics, tacts follow in looking at the weak spots, wreck havoc, mass and raze. Drive the enemy deep.

VIRTUAL KINGDOM
Avian: Undead
Avian: Undead
Avian: Undead

Dwarf: Warrior
Dwarf: Warrior
Dwarf: Warrior

Elf: War Hero
Elf: Heretic
Elf: Rogue
Elf: Mystic

Faery: War Hero
Faery: Heretic
Faery: Rogue
Faery: Mystic

Halfling: Heretic
Halfling: Rogue
Halfling: Mystic
Haflling: Paladin

Human: War Hero
Human: War Hero
Human: Paladin

Orc: Tactician
Orc: Tactician
Orc: Tactician
Orc: Paladin

IDEAL KINGDOM
4 Orc/Undead
9 Elf/War Hero
4 Faery/Heretic
2 Faery/Mystic
2 Faery/Rogue
2 Elf/Mystic
2 Halfling/Rogue

Paladins cannot give QF or MA. Human can give GP which is nice, dwarf doesn't have anything extra to give over the paladin base.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bananamancer2000

Paladins cannot give QF or MA. Human can give GP which is nice, dwarf doesn't have anything extra to give over the paladin base.

---

Did not know that, thank you.

Looking good everyone. Thank you.

The redeeming quality of dwarf paladin is the ability to keep guild ratio in the face of razes. This always weighs heavy for me in paladin distribution. The reason I went dwarf quad undead was the race and personality gel for my durability OCD.

Keep them coming. A different perspective can trigger an epiphany; respectfully, a better perspective.

@ Persain ~ The faery rogue is one of those I'm glad you elaborated on. We had one in our ghetto last age and they finished 28th overall in honor. Honor alone doesn't get my attention as much as honor indicating how often one hits and doesn't get hit.

I ran a halfer heretic last age. The first t/m I've run in many ages. I'm not afraid of heretic this age because I was reacquainted with the fundamental: chastity, greed, riots.

Lets see

Attacker section
Human Tactician 2x
Human Paladin 1x
Human Undead 1x
Orc Tactician 2x
Orc Undead 2x
Avian Paladin 1x
Avian Undead 1x
Avian War Hero 1x
Dwarf War Hero 2x

Hybrid section
Elf War Hero 1x
Elf Heretic 2x

T/M section
Dwarf Mystic 1x tribute to our lone dwarf mystic
Halfing Paladin 1x
Halfing Rogue 3x
Faery Heretic 2x
Faery Mystic 2x
Elf Mystic 1x

And like Persains kingdom we also operate with something called Feary in our kingdom setup, not sure what it is, but it sounds scarry.

1st Paladin is just generic for Paladin spells whilst the second and third is what we had last age, for Fanactism and Town watch + Paladin spells, really wanted a Halfing hybrid or a Faery War hero, but I suck at making hybrids so setteled for only a few there although ideally you'd like a few more and fewer t/m's I think.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Madchess

And like Persains kingdom we also operate with something called Feary in our kingdom setup, not sure what it is, but it sounds scarry.

---

hehe, i know its spelled wrong but every time i go to write faery i type feary just a slight of hand in typing due to habbit and bad spelling. Combine that with the tons and tons of red lines i see with little mistakes here and there and i just gave up on trying to correct it.

Thank you, everyone.

Bananamancer2000, smercjd, Persain, Madchess

I'm now on to imagining a theme. While the influences from you participants may not be apparent in The Virtual Kingdom kingdom page, they may shine through in application.

PS If any other ideas come to mind, feel free to drop them here or The Virtual Kingfom age 79 thread in RP. I also want ideas from new players. Even those who may not feel they have the mechanical grasp of the players listed, can present fresh ideas that can be incorporated. We're all students.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StratOcastle

Thank you, everyone.

Bananamancer2000, smercjd, Persain, Madchess

I'm now on to imagining a theme. While the influences from you participants may not be apparent in The Virtual Kingdom kingdom page, they may shine through in application.

PS If any other ideas come to mind, feel free to drop them here or The Virtual Kingfom age 79 thread in RP. I also want ideas from new players. Even those who may not feel they have the mechanical grasp of the players listed, can present fresh ideas that can be incorporated. We're all students.

---

With pleasure Strat0castle, even if I don't always make it far enough to post, I always participate in the virtual kingdom theory crafting on my own.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StratOcastle

Thank you, everyone.

Bananamancer2000, smercjd, Persain, Madchess

I'm now on to imagining a theme. While the influences from you participants may not be apparent in The Virtual Kingdom kingdom page, they may shine through in application.

PS If any other ideas come to mind, feel free to drop them here or The Virtual Kingfom age 79 thread in RP. I also want ideas from new players. Even those who may not feel they have the mechanical grasp of the players listed, can present fresh ideas that can be incorporated. We're all students.

---

Thanks for making a rookie feel welcomed! I'll see if I do this right:

Avian-Warrior
Avian-Warrior
Avian-Warrior
Avian-War Hero

Dwarf-War Hero
Dwarf-War Hero
Dwarf-War Hero
Dwarf-Heretic

Orc-Paladin
Orc-Undead
Orc-Undead
Orc-Warrior

Elf-Heretic
Elf-Mystic
Elf-Mystic
Elf-War Hero

Faery-Mystic
Faery-Heretic
Faery-Rogue


Halfling-Rogue
Halfling-Rogue
Halfling-Paladin

Human-Tactician
Human-Tactician
Human-Tactician


From a noob player, I chose humans last because I'd prefer to not run them lol. I originally had Avian as Tacticians, but after adding humans I thought Hu/Ta is better in this Virtual Kingdom. To help coordinate waves I chose Avians to be Warrior. Or/Un for plague and compliments racials. I really like Or/Pa as a cute draft soldiers almost free and throw at drakes. Criticize/critique this build to help me learn a thing or two.

1:ORC UNDEAD
2:ORC UNDEAD
3:ORC UNDEAD
4:ORC UNDEAD
- Classic Breakers, Heavy offense that demand to be dealt with early or feel the consequence.

5:DWARF TACT
6:DWARF TACT
7:DWARF TACT
- Provs that fit will anywhere in a gradient. Fast and versatile, great at interference and accurate intel a plus but losing few thieves in the process a godsend.

8:DWARF ROGUE
- This guy flys solo, low and under the radar he uses high static defense and modest offense to look unassuming. His BE ramps up quickly as he can use ops to fill new lands; he can kidnap and prop enemy units to improve his position over time. The longer war the better-- his true threat is a slow burn.

9:HALFER ROGUE
10:HALFER ROGUE
- Classic rogues. Ready to do the dirt.

11:HALFER PALADIN
12:HALFER PALADIN
- Heavy attackers in sheeps clothing. High defensive structures and considerable options to manage decline and reposition.

13:ELF PALADIN
- Offensive spellkit for the paladin, as well as coverage on those harder-to-cast-on kdmates. This prov needs to run low elites to be relevantly positioned in war. Off specs are its friends.

14:ELF WAR HERO
15:ELF WAR HERO
16:ELF WAR HERO
- 7->8/3 and helps solve wages issues with heavy specialist comp. spell support, pitfalls. Rax are mandatory.

17:FAERY MYSTIC
18:FAERY MYSTIC
19:FAERY MYSTIC
- MS cover, check with mana to spare for LL. These provs don't do much by way of attacking initially and need to be well defended from enemy thieves. LL acres into fae-crockpot, simmer 36 hours on low, enjoy.

20:HUMAN HERETIC
21:HUMAN HERETIC
22:HUMAN HERETIC
- Offensive power to free up per acre units in TPA/WPA. use mods and higher tpa/wpa to protect that precious population and economic bonus. 20% rune penalty is steep but these guys are casting mostly cheap spells.

23:AVIAN WARRIOR
24:AVIAN WARRIOR
25:AVIAN WARRIOR
- These guys work well from the middle, are great provs to really eat through heavy penalties to gains with a little science focus. Their returns give them a bit more than average immunity to being cut deep in penalty for poor gains, and warrior helps balance out their lackluster total offense.


I took it literally as roster slots for the #s. :P I guess i liked the extra challenge in the concept.

I'll try to run these in order of importance per my thinking:

Palies: Orc, Avian, Halfer, Human. Spell coverage - lots of games you can play if you can keep these 4 on for 48+ straight. I guess they attack too or something.
A/flex: Faery WH x3 - mainline attackers, can go UB at the drop of a hat if you don't deal with them.
A!: Halfer warrior x3 - "breakers". Top offense in the game. Hulk smash!
M/(t or something): Elf mystic x3 - wpa mods woot. Does anything else matter?
A/T: Avian Rogue x3 - I think they don't get horses anymore, but even still, they are one of the few that doesn't regret proping an elite. (Or orc... but -sci, eww)
a/t/m: Dwarf Heretic x3 - No one else has the build space. Hopefully looks like a pointless prov till you realize it robbed you, FBed someone else, and still hit the chain target.
A/sustain: Orc UD x3 - complimenting spells, and can't do anything else with an orc, gotta be an attacker.
A/forgettable: Human tact x3 - I guess it goes fast. Spells mesh too, so I guess the check-sum checks?


I wish I could put mystic somewhere besides Elf to use their good army, but WPA mods basically force that choice IMO. Looking back at it, could swap those last two, get the orcs faster. They'd wear out faster though due to the +losses though, and leaves 3 more provs for the palies to put GP on... so I'm back to liking this one a bit better.

@Ethan...i like your mix you effectively looks like u did exactly my same concept just with everything your twist what u see works best. I will point out why i went with my mix over yours is , half warrior has less offense than halfer war hero (9/0 v 8.8/0) and feary warhero is good for ub but doesnt have flexibility to use leets once your 'Safe", meaning if u need pop space u end up over converting your offense. ;)

Ok, so now I'm not done.

I'm at work and I write like a sloth ASMR session, so I'll catch up later. Thank you and good to see new faces.

T/M
Elf - The Mystic
Elf - The Mystic
Elf - The Mystic

Halfling - The Rogue
Halfling - The Rogue
Halfling - The Rogue
Faery - The Rogue

Faery - The Heretic
Faery - The Heretic
Faery - The Heretic


Squadron 1
Orc - The Tactician
Orc - The Tactician
Orc - The Tactician
Avian - The Undead
Avian - The Undead
Avian - The Undead
Avian - The Paladin


Squadron 2
Human - The Warrior
Human - The Warrior
Human - The Warrior
Orc - The Paladin
Dwarf - The War Hero
Dwarf - The War Hero
Dwarf - The War Hero
Halfling - The Paladin

Glad to see so many participate!

I won't read much now because I want to play as well, and I don't want to be influenced... I'll get around soonish once I have some time!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RattleHead

Glad to see so many participate!

I won't read much now because I want to play as well, and I don't want to be influenced... I'll get around soonish once I have some time!

---

Cool. I'm having writers block on theme. I already did spices once so I was going to do cities/capitals of the world in accordance with a 5 division GMT array; though I'm sure I'd forget somebodies favorite city and they'd attack me with multis forever.

"Y'UNS FORGOT TUSCALOOSA, YAH YELLA' BUCKEYE YANKEE! ROLL TIDE!"

PS MeIkor squadrons remind me of Brian Blessed:Prince Vultan yelling "Dive!"

HQ
2 Elf Mystic
Faery Mystic
Faery Rogue
2 Halfling Rogue
Faery Heretic

Support
Avian Paladin
Halfling Paladin
Orc Paladin
Elf Tactician

Warrior Spearhead
Human Warrior
Dwarf Warrior
Avian Warrior
Orc War Hero

Assault
Avian War Hero
Orc Tactician
Elf Heretic

Undead Spearhead
Human Undead
Dwarf Undead
Avian Undead
Human War Hero

Assault
Dwarf War Hero
Human Tactician
Dwarf Heretic

...and here is the top25 picks KD

https://i.ibb.co/3zwX53n/Survey.png

Thank you, RattleHead, for both submissions. The top 25 list helps in choosing leverage if one has a patient kingdom.

I've been exploring some asymmetric divisions myself, though the holiday weekend made it difficult to hammer out.

@ All. I'm taking my time to familiarize myself with all the build submissions. Even if some strats may seem to have topical inefficiencies I like to think on them to enlighten myself on hidden alternatives. Like finding plutonium by accident ;) it's about the builds in motion.

I'm recalling the moment in the old Jason and the Argonauts when the colossus statue of Talos turned his head.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigShotFancyMan

Thanks for making a rookie feel welcomed! I'll see if I do this right:

Avian-Warrior
Avian-Warrior
Avian-Warrior
Avian-War Hero

Dwarf-War Hero
Dwarf-War Hero
Dwarf-War Hero
Dwarf-Heretic

Orc-Paladin
Orc-Undead
Orc-Undead
Orc-Warrior

Elf-Heretic
Elf-Mystic
Elf-Mystic
Elf-War Hero

Faery-Mystic
Faery-Heretic
Faery-Rogue


Halfling-Rogue
Halfling-Rogue
Halfling-Paladin

Human-Tactician
Human-Tactician
Human-Tactician


From a noob player, I chose humans last because I'd prefer to not run them lol. I originally had Avian as Tacticians, but after adding humans I thought Hu/Ta is better in this Virtual Kingdom. To help coordinate waves I chose Avians to be Warrior. Or/Un for plague and compliments racials. I really like Or/Pa as a cute draft soldiers almost free and throw at drakes. Criticize/critique this build to help me learn a thing or two.

---

I'm on a short break, but I'll start. To my eye I find nothing wrong, other than a missing undead, but that's not really a point of critique. You have solid understanding from what I see.

Dwarf war hero is capable of churning out productive acres at an astonishing rate. This feature is widely ignored in that an organized kingdom could ape some aspects of cowing in war. All it takes is two stage thinking. Many of the same resources we use to fund and fight dragons could be pressed toward buffing these war heroes. Why? Because they can WS and build in 6 ticks free. If the dwarves then exercised relay taps(return time divided by generals) off elliptical heretic NM runs you'd have fluid acre intake. Follow up with nominal aid so resource accumulation wouldn't be lost to enemy micro.

My break is over.

Anyway, my approach to strategy is based in maliable tactic packs. While I feel chaining is an effective regional tactic, it is a brittle theater macro. If your opponent is superior in chain vs chain execution then there must be a plan B. While pure UBs are the most valued asset we can imagine virtual UBs based in resource cardiovascularity. These aren't individual provinces as much as a push-pull network that moves zero sum resources to center leverage where desired. Sometimes this is an excercise of strength vs enemy strength and other times a surge vs enemy weakness.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by StratOcastle

I'm on a short break, but I'll start. To my eye I find nothing wrong, other than a missing undead, but that's not really a point of critique. You have solid understanding from what I see.

Dwarf war hero is capable of churning out productive acres at an astonishing rate. This feature is widely ignored in that an organized kingdom could ape some aspects of cowing in war. All it takes is two stage thinking. Many of the same resources we use to fund and fight dragons could be pressed toward buffing these war heroes. Why? Because they can WS and build in 6 ticks free. If the dwarves then exercised relay taps(return time divided by generals) off elliptical heretic NM runs you'd have fluid acre intake. Follow up with nominal aid so resource accumulation wouldn't be lost to enemy micro.

My break is over.

Anyway, my approach to strategy is based in maliable tactic packs. While I feel chaining is an effective regional tactic, it is a brittle theater macro. If your opponent is superior in chain vs chain execution then there must be a plan B. While pure UBs are the most valued asset we can imagine virtual UBs based in resource cardiovascularity. These aren't individual provinces as much as a push-pull network that moves zero sum resources to center leverage where desired. Sometimes this is an excercise of strength vs enemy strength and other times a surge vs enemy weakness.

---

Personally I prefer a Dwarf with a personality that has a guild bonus, being Dwarves not building towers is wasteful (basically Mystic/Heretic/Paladin/Rogue)


Some of my thoughts echo's your thoughts..... yet some diverges:
My preference for attackers
Durability: sustain offense/def - if it be TPA to block intel & dmg ops, WPA to prevent FB and dmg spells, Def to prevent getting hit, having right buildings for attack with high BE, not losing much troops on att/def, or training to replace or overtake your prior off/def
Attack speed: Unless it is an alpha striker wild card, all attackers needs to match attack speed with each other - so if you have Avians, I prefer to not mix it up with another race unless you pair the other one with a Tact or go heavy on barracks on the non-avians.
Stealth/Mana personalities/races - I see unused stealth/mana as a waste so i tend to have a heavy preference for attackers to have a T/M personality instead of an attacker personality. while T/M races into attacker personalities. I dont see having max off so high that you cant use it all and have to oversend to keep them from getting hit at home useful (a waste in my opinion), which the extra pez goes into pumping either TPA/WPA instead.

I agree pack tactics is vital in strategy which lies more on the leadership, and less so on the lineup side has some relation but in the grand scheme of things leadership takes the cake.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RedPanda

Personally I prefer a Dwarf with a personality that has a guild bonus, being Dwarves not building towers is wasteful (basically Mystic/Heretic/Paladin/Rogue)


Some of my thoughts echo's your thoughts..... yet some diverges:
My preference for attackers
Durability: sustain offense/def - if it be TPA to block intel & dmg ops, WPA to prevent FB and dmg spells, Def to prevent getting hit, having right buildings for attack with high BE, not losing much troops on att/def, or training to replace or overtake your prior off/def
Attack speed: Unless it is an alpha striker wild card, all attackers needs to match attack speed with each other - so if you have Avians, I prefer to not mix it up with another race unless you pair the other one with a Tact or go heavy on barracks on the non-avians.
Stealth/Mana personalities/races - I see unused stealth/mana as a waste so i tend to have a heavy preference for attackers to have a T/M personality instead of an attacker personality. while T/M races into attacker personalities. I dont see having max off so high that you cant use it all and have to oversend to keep them from getting hit at home useful (a waste in my opinion), which the extra pez goes into pumping either TPA/WPA instead.

I agree pack tactics is vital in strategy which lies more on the leadership, and less so on the lineup side has some relation but in the grand scheme of things leadership takes the cake.

---

Thank you.

Maybe I can reflect on my past to give perspective. I consider my builds charmingly archaic, but even my semi-ghetto monarchs have ordered me to change strats and I've had friends cuss me out after seeing my survey intel. It's funny to me because I feel perfectly province-fit and I do fine in and out of war. I specifically remember the reaction when guys saw my undead cleric with hospitals and GS with no TGs or stables. My traditional war readiness is switching something(banks) to WTs and the only reason I look at enemy kingdom pages before war is if someone asks. I'm not really defensive minded as much as having durability OCD.

My personal tactics seem awkward when written, but I do relay taps, train thieves because MS don't hit them, and have released these same thieves for a self generated soldier block. In reference to undead cleric I'd plunder tap in war since I couldn't steal and notably used nw zone hyjinx to resist chaining.

As much as I enjoy my style I equally enjoy seeing how the other half lives. Once I got to adopt Maxin of Mythos's dwarf rogue; a real honor deviner. It was gleamingly flawless compared to my train wreck builds. It was conceptually complete and honed for execution. My builds are like digging through junk till you find a screwdriver for a good knife.

The fact is we need players, like yourself, to crystalize ideas into working art.

My comment is more in general, it is physically impossible to do everything at once. Just random ideas and thoughts and preferences to my comment above.

But yea Ideas is only theory, it is the player which make it possible.... like you said into art. And one person cannot do it, does not mean another person cannot not do it.

TBH, most monarchs locked into a single viewpoint build, and once someone different comes along they reject it being they dont know how to play it, and if it is another kingdom that has it in a war then they fail to provide an answer to that build being they think only their current viewpoints.


also I want to try a Elven build with 20-25% Hospitals that I saw in a prior age... though I dont remember if it was a cleric or warrior.... been too long... maybe it was you that I nabbed the Survey from.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RattleHead

...and here is the top25 picks KD

---

u have halfing war hero as hybrid.....i have 1/4 of them in the game in my kd and you are classifying it wrong. halfling war hero is a attacker

you can say the same for Fae WH really... i just have a simple check that makes the definition, basically if race if fae, elf, or halfer and any attacker perso, and vice versa, itll get tagged 'hyb' ...

I am actually playing one too, would definitely call myself an attacker first as well, but there are some options for opping along the way, too.

i'd could argue the point against that for feary(or your elf warhero) but either way that'd play out halfer war hero still not a hybrid. Similarlly to how u can run an avain tact with 4 raw tpa and only hit for ****ty gains as a chain finisher while u ns+riot and act as a "hybrid" but i wouldnt classify the race/personality as predominately hybrid just like i wouldnt with halfing warhero :P

tbh, it should be play style which determines if your a hybrid or not. I can easily turn a Elf rogue into a heavy attacker no problem..... it is realizing the give take of the population in relation to DPA/OPA/TPA/WPA.

5 Faery Mystics - noteably high Forts and WPA, 5 Halfling Rogues - noteably high TDs, WTs and TPA,
15 Orc Warriors - noteably high elites a.k.a "Ogre bombs" ...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RedPanda

My comment is more in general, it is physically impossible to do everything at once. Just random ideas and thoughts and preferences to my comment above.

But yea Ideas is only theory, it is the player which make it possible.... like you said into art. And one person cannot do it, does not mean another person cannot not do it.

TBH, most monarchs locked into a single viewpoint build, and once someone different comes along they reject it being they dont know how to play it, and if it is another kingdom that has it in a war then they fail to provide an answer to that build being they think only their current viewpoints.


also I want to try a Elven build with 20-25% Hospitals that I saw in a prior age... though I dont remember if it was a cleric or warrior.... been too long... maybe it was you that I nabbed the Survey from.

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Agreed. I'm difficult to work with because I have tendencies but no system. Even with access to formal pump mechanisms I'm not one to maximize potential. As an example, last age I ran a halfer heretic and left ospecs hanging around without paying attention to them. I could've easily converted them to soldiers just for additional defense, or thieves or wizards via guild attrition. That is to say, I manage my provinces but seem to keep a Swiss Army knife at a subconscious level. It doesn't translate to build advice so I try to point new players toward guys with spreadsheets.

I was very fond of elf clerics, but only played them occasionally because I experiment with builds. My findings were that elf cleric had great potential. I had started one with 5 weeks left in an age and joined Jerks in an age off. This offered me the proving grounds I desire most: relative internal chaos in a high caliber tier. This meant we were yielding randoms from sub-whoring tier war and full blown whoring kingdoms. I got to operate in war and get double-teamed out of war. Players with exquisite province builds and great tactical knowledge would attack, allowing me to invoke my challenge idioms. By the last 2 weeks I was operating with near impunity, even ignoring encroachment from great but smaller war kingdoms.

Two other builds I found overpowering were a human cleric and undead sage. The human cleric was so successful I abandoned it in my kingdoms interest to start a new orc mystic. The undead sage was another late starter with which I could simply toy with opponents. Since I'm not into charting I don't pursue builds I know eclipse those I've operated under strict regimes. The human cleric attained levels where I was reliably thwarting multiple chain attempts including organized NM waving. It's not that I believe these builds were unstoppable; it's that since they'd required stiff effort from good enemy kingdoms they were competition level.

So when I stumble into builds, knowing I'm a slob of a province manager who prefers to eat attacks by superior opposition, I know they can be honed into incredible core components.

PS the undead sage was the ultimate oow province in that it was monstrous regarding the meter. The duality of learn and amnesia made for some of the most interesting acts of disinterest from the opposition. Whenever an enemy went UF I broke out the amnesia and opponent after opponent simply stopped their aggressions. I was a "plunder for extra runes" guy with the offense to cover acre dispersion.

[QUOTE=StratOcastle;15469587]I'm on a short break, but I'll start. To my eye I find nothing wrong, other than a missing undead, but that's not really a point of critique. You have solid understanding from what I see.

Dwarf war hero is capable of churning out productive acres at an astonishing rate. This feature is widely ignored in that an organized kingdom could ape some aspects of cowing in war. All it takes is two stage thinking. Many of the same resources we use to fund and fight dragons could be pressed toward buffing these war heroes. Why? Because they can WS and build in 6 ticks free. If the dwarves then exercised relay taps(return time divided by generals) off elliptical heretic NM runs you'd have fluid acre intake. Follow up with nominal aid so resource accumulation wouldn't be lost to enemy micro.

My break is over.

Anyway, my approach to strategy is based in maliable tactic packs. While I feel chaining is an effective regional tactic, it is a brittle theater macro. If your opponent is superior in chain vs chain execution then there must be a plan B. While pure UBs are the most valued asset we can imagine virtual UBs based in resource cardiovascularity. These aren't individual provinces as much as a push-pull network that moves zero sum resources to center leverage where desired. Sometimes this is an excercise of strength vs enemy strength and other times a surge vs enemy weakness.[/QUOTE

Thanks for the feedback Strato. I'd like to help the monarch in the future with planning because there are times I have uber free time. Its great to read your strategy in a later post too (Undead Cleric with hospitals? :) ) If you could elaborate on "relay taps" more, it'd be helpful. Return time/generals doesn't quite communicate well to me.

@Rattlehead, the chart is really cool thing to see and give perspective on community thoughts.