Age of Wonders 3 SG

[Bobchillingworth]

I don't care how you supply the save, as long as we can load it. RB wouldn't allow me to attach the save as a ZIP file, evidently it was too large.

[MJW (ya that one)]

I don't care how you supply the save, as long as we can load it. RB wouldn't allow me to attach the save as a ZIP file, evidently it was too large.

Okay then. I would prefer to use e-mail rather than having to make an account their.

[Bobchillingworth]

Moved thread. Going to update the first post with a few basic rules, and then start the first set

[Bobchillingworth]

Game options set:

Our glorious leader, possibly a Green Lantern:






Turn 1:

Our starting units are unfortunately terrible. The only T2 unit we start with is our weakest, the Blight Doctor (mediocre ranged support & cures disease). Predictably we begin underground, which is fine.



Archdruid hero hired, paired with Warg Rider for scouting duty.



Research set to “Summon Wisp”, so that we can have an endless supply of scouting units.



Battle fought against some Independents (AoW barbs) on a gold mine; we win without losses.




(what combat looks like, for those unfamiliar with the game)



(I didn't let them retreat because I wanted the exp)


A bonus treasure (AoW “goodie hut”) provides the capital with a free Shooting Grounds.



Production set to Builders Hall, since it’ll enable early expansion and speed up all further construction. We could rush it, which I’ve read is a very common MP strategy, but it doesn’t seem worth the gold penalty (about 100 extra gold to rush, plus temporarily reduced income due to lowered happiness). I generally don’t rush units or improvements- you really need that gold to afford better units, not quicker ones. Priorities are probably very different in MP. I will rush big-ticket items like Dragons though which take forever to build normally.




Turn 2:

Forgot to take a picture last turn of what improvements the capital started with:



Portal to the surface found, as well as the borders of an independent city- we’ll make contact next turn. Refugee camp treasure gives the capital +800 pop.



Turn 3:

Independent city contacted, unfortunately they’re both hostile and fairly large, so we won’t be absorbing them soon. A good target for our first real military action though.



Leaving the cave reveals some dungeons to explore in the world above. One is Mythical though, we won't be clearing that one for a long time.



Decided to take a risk and clear a dungeon near the capital. Units got a little roughed up, but we didn’t suffer any losses- clearing lairs is all about managing the one or two very dangerous units in them so that your guys are in place to clobber them as soon as they’re in range before they can get many hits in. We are rewarded with several promotions, a little bit of gold and a worthless bow artifact.





Summon Wisp researched. New research set to Train Apprentice, so that we can produce some decent ranged units that aren’t almost completely reliant on Blight attacks.


Turn 4:

Builder’s Hall completes, and as luck would have it I have located a good expansion site, so production is changed to a Settler. This will leave us underpopulated, but we’ll get over it.

Cleared another structure, got gold.


Turn 5:

Summoned a Wisp by our hero on the surface, who can now scout it out for us while I return the hero home (to be eventually equipped with an army). Met an AI leader- seems the surface will be contested early.



Cleared another gold mine. Got unlucky and lost a Marauder- thankfully they’re easily (and cheaply) replaced. On the plus side, our leader leveled up. Invested 1 point in HP (+5 health) and 4 in Charged Army (all units with the leader get +1 electric attack). Usually I invested the first few levels entirely in health and defense boosts, but our leader is a really, really terrible beatstick- better to have him boosting our attacks right now.



Town of Umboko met. They also declare war on us- what the heck, guys At least they’re pretty weak- I don’t know if I can take them with the units on hand, but if not it won’t take too much more.


Turn 6:

Larissa, the AI we met, declares on us. What on earth is going on here?! And the independents attack us with two units which die pointlessly.



Research finished, next set to Rugged Pioneers- faster settlers will be useful, and it may unlock options to speed city growth.


Turn 7:

An independent city on the surface declares on us, because of course. This one is different though- it’s a very rare Revenant city, which if captured will allow us to build very useful undead units. It’s also on an island, so we won’t be capturing it soon.

One of the underground independent cities is captured. We unfortunately take losses- we’ll have to rebuild our forces before we launch another offensive. On the plus side, it has a lot of tile improvements, so our economy will be significantly improved.




Turn 8:

Capital finishes settler, starts on a Store House to regrow population more quickly. Umboku (city I just captured) starts a Builder’s Hall.

Wisp exploring the surface finds a cache of ancient knowledge, completing our current research. Unfortunately no new empire development civic is unlocked. Research set to Sorcery I, so that we have more mana available for casting combat spells.


Turn 9:

Independent city of Cahal discovered to our north. The game really elected to give us a cramped start here! Amazingly they don’t instantly declare war on us. We pay 100 gold for open borders, which unlocks the possibility of receiving quests from them which give us gold, units and a likely chance of them joining our empire.



Sorcery I comes in, research set to Arcane Study, which will speed up further research by allowing certain structures to produce additional knowledge (AoW equivalent of beakers).


Turn 10:

City of Urgm founded. Begins work on Builder’s Hall for the production.



Capital finishes Store House, starts in a Builder to construct roads between our cities and start tunneling operations.

Independent city to our north will actually join our empire now for 600 gold. Interesting. It will only take a couple turns of saving to earn that- less if some current builds are canceled for a refund. I might take it, four cities this early is pretty good.


And that was my set! If anyone has questions about anything, please feel free to fire them off! We’ve got a lot of enemies, but a pretty strong position- our three cities are pretty nice, and our land is very defensible.


Enjoy! Bacchus is UP.


The Save

[MJW (ya that one)]

Well we are playing on the second highest difficulty level without an optimal leader. Oh well... at least the good start will make this not too bad...

[Bobchillingworth]

I think we'll be fine. Most Sorcerer summons are strong- in particular, Phantasmal Warriors make up for a lot of our melee weakness and the Horrors are incredibly powerful end-game units. Our racial units aren't anything to write home about, except the Beetle Riders which are really good- but we don't have to use those. Capture the hostile independent city to our east, and we'll have access to Draconian units, which are quite strong. Goblins have fast growth rates, so cities of our race can form the economic backbone of the empire while Draconians, Orcs etc. supply troops.

[Dp101]

If you don't have enough room on the surface, you could turn this into a variant: All self-founded cities have to be underground. You could then set a goal of controlling all of the underground areas, and only reclaiming the surface once you are an unstoppable underground tide of soliders.

[MJW (ya that one)]

If you don't have enough room on the surface, you could turn this into a variant: All self-founded cities have to be underground. You could then set a goal of controlling all of the underground areas, and only reclaiming the surface once you are an unstoppable underground tide of soliders.

I don't like this... We are already playing a variant by going earth mastery anyway...

[Bacchus]

I guess we are finding out what's it like to be Goblin — everyone just wants to grind XP on you. But we'll show 'em.

Why did we pick Earth in the end, I seem to have missed that discussion?

Anyway, will play and report.

[Mardoc]

And that was my set! If anyone has questions about anything, please feel free to fire them off! We’ve got a lot of enemies, but a pretty strong position- our three cities are pretty nice, and our land is very defensible.

I've got one...bear in mind I'm an almost total newb. I've got about 2 hours into AoW 2, debating if I want to scratch up for 3. I don't think I'd even ask if Bacchus hadn't said they share a lot of gameplay elements.

Builder’s Hall completes, and as luck would have it I have located a good expansion site, so production is changed to a Settler. This will leave us underpopulated, but we’ll get over it.

Could you expand on this? What makes an expansion site good? What are the limits on city building - radius maybe? Underpopulated sounds like settlers decrease pop in the city they're built, is that right? How much?

Is this a game where you want to try for Infinite City Sprawl, or are there limits on that?