DOOM

[Haerdalas]

only an ill omen so far, no troops affected.

And that it is, both good and bad. having neutral luck is strange...

[alastair]

I have a lot of unrest in one province, but no events so far..?

[Haerdalas]

might be a "magic" site. A couple, such as a Bandit's Lair, increase unrest (though how exactly a bandits lair is magical I don't know....)

In one SP game I had a province with 3 Bandit's Lairs and an Inkpot End. I assume house prices there are at rock bottom.


EDIT: Oh, also you can have some starting unrest when you first take a province, I think. You might just have some left over. Set the tax to automatic and it will lower the tax rate for a few turns until the unrest disappears in this case.

[Wingedflamez]

Yes, when you first take a province I want to say that the unrest starts out at like 20ish, usually takes about 2-3 turns of auto tax rate to sort it all out.  Or you can just kill people until they stop being angry at you.  Thats especially easy for Pangea, I think,  whoever it is that has the black harpy as their scout commander, cause it also has like leader 10, and you can recruit harpy units, and flying creatures get a bonus when they are given the patrol command.

[Haerdalas]

My patrolling is done by Imperial Guardsmen, who count as 3 men each.

Led by a Eunuch, who counts as 15 men. This means i can quite easily operate at 140% tax in my capital for as long as I need (read: the rest of the game).

[parone]

haerdalas-

yes, you can.  and it is often a good idea.  but remmember, patrolling kills pop.  even if you have very strong growth scales that can make up for it, you still are not growing as fast as you can.

ahhh trade offs and choices... ???

[Wingedflamez]

BAH! Who needs population bleed them dry of their money then cast them to the side buwahaha.

[parone]

well, sure but...

your income is dependant on your population.  so, you can't really have one without the other.

that is the classic early game tradeoff-overtax and impede growth?  more now, less later?

of course, most people feel gold is less important as the game goes on.  so there is that too.  plus how your scales figure in...

[Haerdalas]

3 growth scales. I may lose out a little in the long run, but to be honest I don't need gold much except mid game. Early game I cant use it (not enough resources) late game is more about magic and stuff than armies, so really all I use it for is hiring vast numbers of researchers mid game. Tien Chi has some extremely good mid game research capacity... if I can get things going anyway, these independants are just tough enough to slow me.

[parone]

well, i must say, this is probably the worst starting position i have ever had...

i border four empires, who are all faster expanders.

i managed to kill off a whole bunch of cute monkeys.

my indi recruits are pretty awful, and have one huge thing missing

but-

imagine if i can survive it!!  think of the opportunity for glory!

we are almost to our first research goal, which will allow me to spring some nasty surprises, even with my poop hurling minions...

[Wingedflamez]

Ok. So I know its not an exact science. Basically the early game is when everyone is expanding and lasts until the majority of indys are dead. The mid game is basically when people start pulling out geared summoned thugs. And then lasts until the majority of research is finished. And then late game consists of all those half blind from reading in the tower mages start getting air and dropping nukes on everything.

[Huw the Poo]

Hahaha, that's a brilliant summary, Wingedflamez! :D

[Haerdalas]

Yeah... Building economy thugs and minor SCs isn't really something I have much practice in. In SP, when I want an SC, I summon a Tartarian and give him every single one of the best artifact weapons in the game. Up until then I tend to do fine with armies of men and minor summons. I imagine it will be just a little bit harder in MP....

[parone]

im not sure if this is true, but it has been my experience that as the game moves on, if players are more skilled, it really starts to show.  that's why the early game is my 'specialty'
;D

[Phobos]

Thugs are overrated.

I should rephrase that.  Neglecting your regular or summoned armies in favour of thugs will not do you any favours.  They are a useful tool, but should not be seen as the main focus of every single strategy.