I will say that simply playing the game is a significant education in itself. Everyone brings to the game their own personality, playstyle etc and it is a matter of working out how you want to play. For instance, mine is mostly mistake prone and overlooking some crucial piece of information while building good relations in order to backstab. I do believe that a disciples game can get incredibly complicated, both with start up and ongoing strategy, and the risk is players burning out by the time the 20th turn is submitted given the degree of communication that takes place.
A regular game of Dominions has alliances/non-aggression pacts (not that I readily sign into either these days), and there is ample opportunity to discuss tactics then. I know my own knowledge of Dominions was greatly expanded when talking to pyrhic and Kelan over at Broken Forum some years ago, trying to salvage what ended up being an unwinnable position against a very good player.
There’s only so much a good mentor can teach in Dominions, and even with the 10-15 games I’ve played now, I continue to learn new things also. The trick with me is to consider one part of the game and focus on learning that. For instance, when I wanted to really hammer the blood hunting efficiency, I went with EA Mictlan.
Sounds good to me. I’m happy to let the vets decide on all these things. I’ll aim to get all the documents and manuals printed so they’re handy and start looking into what’s what.
I am in the same boat, but will dedicate enough time to be competitive and especially to be there to answer questions and offer feedback.
Same here. I still think option 3 can really help you learn early as you can see each others’ battle replays and discuss strategies and specifics with your team without worry of how it will impact the game. I agree with @Strato that the early communication can be overwhelming as selecting nations and a pretender build can take a long time, especially with a team in a disciple game, but the knowledge gained during that should be invaluable to someone new to it. You really only have to put as much time into it as you want and one of us veterans can come up with a decent strategy fairly quickly although I may need some help at first as I haven’t played in a little while ;).
EDIT: Speaking of communication, I wonder if @sharaleo still has his email server up that we used for disciple games in the past. Or, perhaps our new site has an improved messaging system we can use instead.
I also vote for option #3 for pretty much the exact same reasons. Ready for a daily deep thought game to get through the winter, but don’t want to screw my allies immediately with incompetence.
Printed out my manual on some lovely heavy stock,and am slamming through the tutorials and a few LP’s to get a feel for the nations (past my cursory knowledge from CoE)
Ok, in looking through the posts, it looks like we might have a few more newbies: @Canuck , @T11, and @Fifth_Fret.
Strato, you had mentioned that the time involved might stop you from playing a disciple game. It does look like that is the way we are headed with the early voting.
DireAussie, psyanojim, based on the response from the newbies above, or if Strato bows out, you guys are probably both in. If only one opening is there, I defer to whomever of you wants it the most. I will not be responsible for the increase in waistlines or relationship drama!
Based on how many people we get, we will apportion the two teams. To whet your appetite,
I nominate the following: (bearing in mind its a learning game, so no WyldRyde settings yet).
Middle Age
Normal gold, supply, resource,
I will set the magic sites a bit higher, but not all the way at 75%. Like 10% higher than default.
The map will have 2 level 2 thrones. They will be placed in the SW and NE sections of the map. The map will have a barrier ridgeline of mountains going NW to SE. There will be 3 gaps in that barrier: In the NW, center, and SE. I will create enough provinces to give each nation 10 provinces, (maybe more?) on their side of the mountains.
Hall of Heroes at 15, not 10.
Standard Research,
Limited Artifact creation
Win by holding both level 2s.
I might put in some level 1s scattered around, but i dont want those to impact the win condition of holding the throne.
But all this is based on how many players we get. We still might go with just the normal, free for all, if the teams come out odd.
I can do disciples if that is the group consensus. I’m in the middle of doing a prac right now, but that finishes in another two weeks. After that, I have 4 months away where I can drink Bundy Rum and chill. All I ask is to not be a leader if the style of going two teams is decided. Also, more importantly, I can be on standby as a sub if there is an emphasis on even teams. I’m all for having more people as opposed to less! More experience = more opportunities to learn, and I know both of those two players can offer more than I could.
Each of the 2 teams has 1 god, and 3 disciples. The god must be imprisoned, and the nation’s troops/commanders cannot wage offensive warfare on the other team until the god is released.
The disciples have no restrictions.
(Reasoning: It give the god players less to do in the early game, and more time to devote to other things, per the sentiments mentioned above).
Team 1:
Psyanojim (God)
Strato (no god per above)
Tylertoo
Geggis
Team 2:
DireAussie (God)
Kelan (no god per above)
Pyperkub
DeForrestation.
Nations are picked in order of Teams: 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2.
Pyrhic is on board as a sub, as well as a resource for the newbies to ask.
Also, if the newbies want, both I and Pyrhic could email the turn 87 of the past game to the players so they see the game from both sides.
