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Virtual Kingdom Age 84 Division Array
SPEARHEAD
Avian: tactician
Dwarf: cleric
Faery: mystic
Halfling: rogue
Orc: warrior
ASSAULT
Elf: heretic
Elf: heretic
Human: artisan
Human: artisan
Human: artisan
SPEARHEAD*
Avian: tactician
Dwarf: cleric
Faery: mystic
Halfling: rogue
Orc: warrior
ASSAULT
Elf: heretic
Elf: heretic
Undead: war hero
Undead: war hero
Undead: war hero
SPEARHEAD
Avian: tactician
Dwarf: cleric
Faery: mystic
Halfling: rogue
Orc: warrior
25 faery
15 fae/tact
4 fae/mystic
4 fae/heretic
cleric
warhero
easy TFC crown.
Agreed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bananamancer2000
In whoring philosophy I always understood Orc Core gains, but not Orc Core losses.
I'm on twitter attempting to get nations of the world to start utopia kingdoms. It'd be nice to see Haiti crown.
SPEARHEAD divisions
Avian: tactician
Dwarf: cleric
Faery: mystic
Halfling: rogue
Orc: warrior
Spearhead divisions are designed for breaking t/ms or other high defense provinces. The idea is to triangulate the 3 basic defenses: military defense, magic defense, theft defense.
Each province in the division idealized priorities are primary, secondary and tertiary. The main thrust in the spearhead division are:
Faery: mystic 1. Cast 2. Stealth 3. Attack
Halfling: rogue 1. Stealth 2. Cast 3. Attack
Orc: warrior 1. Attack 2. Cast 3. Stealth
In simple terms, the avian and dwarf run interference to protect the main thrust. Their roles traditionally differ in that the avian is a rover(takes initiative) and the dwarf is a camper(takes opportunity).
For ages, the basic avian tactician was & is the apex attacker predator, of what we consider attacker races. The speed is what I believe makes the avian attack book equivalent to the faery spell book. Because of the unparalleled speed, the avian tac can flourish with a kaleidoscope of attack types to best serve itself and thus the division.
The avian tac in the division system drives breakable threats out of the net worth range of the main thrust provinces. This would be a common practice, but the avian tac could also participate in tearing down a primary target. This depends on the climate or the level of resistance. So the avian tac is freer to raze, mass, even learn on a per general basis to hold an enemy at a desired range. The obvious other responsibility is to collect intel.
The dwarf cleric isn't quite the camping threat of past ages but presents one of the most versatile player packages the game offers. In our case the dwarf cleric offers protection spells and boosters to the division. The ability to engage undead at zero risk frees up the avian tac. I'm fond of elites that can stand alone if all specialists are lost and this is one of the main reasons I combine dwarf with cleric. The lower build cost will pay dividends for those who understand the value of accelerated building: they begin producing sooner and better because they are dwarf constructions. Since this virtual kingdom operates in an Elliptical Wave pattern, the dwarves across the 3 spearhead divisions are capable of completing construction strategies between most kingdoms traditional waves. We could even phalanx these builds to exploit openings between waves.
I'm surprised that there is no real most powerfull race this age, the most people play avian, but the only race with less than half as many people playing it is dwarf.
I think that makes for an interesting and diverse age.
Currently having all races represented across 13 staring players in my own kingdom, so we'll see who will be able to get the most out of their race.
That's good to hear. The game seems balanced from where I'm standing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Madchess
My feelings on avian is that it's widely misunderstood. The standard command structure seen in most kingdoms make avian core underwhelming and squanders their capabilities. In my experience, the only people who should play avians are people who want to play them. A good avian player, who "gets" kingdom first, ordered to attack at will can bring fantastic gifts. Over tightening the wave structure and attack choices waters down the absolute domination they're capable of.
This version of the virtual kingdom was rendered a level of simplicity to convey the mechanics. Personally I like stepped capability like faery heretic for hard magic defense targets, elf heretic for low penetration high damage, and halfling heretic for hard theft defense targets. This so the faery could cast Fools Gold on those who hold opposing kingdom fortunes. So I'm more about economic cardio and gassing the opposition. The drawback is the kingdom would only have 2 spearhead divisions vs the 3 in this presentation.
It's good to see you, Madchess. Thirteen good ones means a lot to guys who've played in micro-kingdoms. Shed the fear and this game falls right into place. I wish you and your guys a great age.
ASSAULT divisions
The assault divisions in this virtual kingdom were broken up by racial core. This was done for strategic annunciation.
The role of the elf heretic is fairly obvious to most, but I've learned to use the spell array for suppression more than impact. If Blizzard defined heretic over Nightmare, philosophically, then you're in my mindset. Initially you can use Nightmare as an impact spell, but then contiguously like Chinese water torture. You just keep dropping a few on target to draw off their strength. Pop one in to allow attackers to achieve higher efficiency per general. Same goes with the rest of the spell array. We can't forget that elves can share self spells.
The real difference between the assault divisions is the attack method. The humans would carry out what closely resembles a traditional cross-chain: let's assume double tap
Attacker 1: first attack, sixth attack
Attacker 2: second attack, fifth attack
Attacker 3: third attack, forth attack
This was shown to me by Crazy Pete many ages ago. I was never in a kingdom organized enough to wave as such, but the truncated nature of these divisions make this a realistic option. The point of this attack regiment is to yield uniform acres and make ambush less palatable.
The undead doctrine is to attack broad regions, spread plague far and wide and to create nw craters in the enemy alignment. This is done to push potential attackers, or whoever, out of max range of the spearhead divisions.
Thus the spearhead divisions are engaging 3 enemy t/ms while the assault divisions are suppressing nw threats to the main thrust. Nothing is perfect, but I devised this system to allow serious players with casual time constraints to play at a higher quality level.
Avian for speed, war hero for durability, also works surprisingly well for early explorations on high homes, and I've had almost no unemployment amongst peasants. A 16 hour attack time just don't work well when I'm at work and unable to log in for almost 10 hours.
So far looking like easy mode compared to attacking OOP last age with an Orc/warrior, but I am aware many will overtake me once the first ww are in and my numbers won't be impressive enough since Avian don't have the strongest military. But better than getting frustrated because your shift started 3 hours before army was in.
Slogging to get big just to stay out of the grind, but the bigger you get the better the competition. I could give seminars on not sending CFs. As mechanically inept as I was, things evened out when it came to behavioral navigation. Generally speaking, if you saw a t/m retal a heavy attacker random, it was me lol. My philosophy was, I already know how to fight; The wizards are a luxury.Quote:
Originally Posted by Madchess
Here's an alternative strat with more economic leverage and meter efficiency.
ASSAULT
Avian: artisan
Elf: heretic
Dwarf: artisan*
Human: warrior
Undead: war hero
SPEARHEAD*
Dwarf: cleric
Faery: heretic*
Faery: mystic
Halfling: rogue
Orc: tactician
HQ*
Avian: tactician
Elf: mystic
Halfling: rogue
Orc: cleric
Undead: war hero
SPEARHEAD*
Dwarf: cleric
Faery: mystic
Halfling: heretic
Halfling: rogue
Orc: tactician
ASSAULT
Avian: artisan
Elf: heretic*
Human: warrior
Human: warrior
Undead: war hero
It's important to challenge your perceptions when it comes to what works and what doesn't.
You'll note as you observe kingdoms around Utopia a few different core structures. It's ego that makes us say "orcs were good whatever age and thus the top kingdom with orcs won that crown."
My last experiences in The Faery Circle were the same as they'd been for ages. Being a full faery kingdom in an age the build was nerfed was not a disadvantage. I had 3 generals and -10% pop and ran an attacker. In fact, I could say the same thing about orc mystics or elf clerics...
It doesn't matter nearly as much as you're led to believe.
The hardest thing to do is to get players to believe it. I didn't just believe, I knew. I knew from experience.
I'm sure a lot of guys look at the races in The Virtual Kingdom and think there are better formulas with avians or orcs, or why heretics(?). That's experience and killer instinct. The difference is if you've put yourself in nonnegotiable situations you tend to learn how to get out of them, and not by talking.
Here's what happens and why guys enslave themselves to the bot. Leaders are trying to retain players, and there will always be cry babies. So being a mechanical thinker you start diggin the bot and all the crap it tells you. This is the evidence you use to accidentally legitimize mediocrity. You won't engage your logistical betters and always engage logistical turds. How do you learn? I learned by gaming for 40 years and embracing challenges as a means of developing innovative methods. - Those guys that randomed me, because I was a logistical turd, are the ones that suddenly found the math didn't work. I'm not bragging or take dark pleasure in it. I took these things as noble challenges and respected my enemies.
No, I'm not a great player. That's what befuddles me. Whenever I've had someone sit my province they make massive changes. I guess they're better at this than me, but I never saw them do what I do. They do cool stuff, like micro the sciences and levy the wages etc. I'm much sloppier in those functions, but I can smell foundational cracks like the earthy aroma of spring water. My frustration was always in my kingdom not seizing those moments. Glory I've known, they shy away from.
I've long held a challenge idiom in Utopia to not attack unprovoked. This is fundemental to how you get good. Think about it; I could've gone on randoming hapless players in little kingdoms reveling in my strategic bullying. But what I did was counter the most powerful first. You need to see them in action, in doctrine. We don't play this to let a robot tell us we are losers.
Y'know in D&D we didn't reflect on what level we were to avoid dragons. If we knew of a dragon that required slaying we got on to how to do it, no matter what level we were. This is important to the enjoyment the game itself. Sure you have pals in kingdom and that's a good reason. But you can keep those friends and enjoy the wind at your back to.
It was for these guys that I illustrate this Virtual Kingdom. I don't guess, I know.