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naaira-expansion-guide [2020/11/23 17:13] naaira [Some words on Awake Expanders] |
naaira-expansion-guide [2022/08/04 23:06] (current) lurch |
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====== Naaira’s Expansion Guide====== | ====== Naaira’s Expansion Guide====== | ||
~~NOTOC~~ | ~~NOTOC~~ | ||
- | **Note:** This is a work in progress. | + | **Author:** Naaira |
[[https:// | [[https:// | ||
- | Expansion is a fundamental and often-discussed topic amongst Dominions players, yet few actual guides exist. This is not a guide for the pros, the true masters of the multiverse, the expansermancers. Rather, it is a tribute to mediocrity, to the enthusiastic amateurs who know somewhere deep down inside that they can become better at expanding. | + | Expansion is a fundamental and often-discussed topic amongst Dominions players, yet few actual guides exist. This is not a guide for the pros, the true masters of the multiverse, the expansermancers. |
+ | <WRAP box round quarter right>< | ||
+ | Not-Lola has written [[https:// | ||
Put on your expansion shoes, tighten that corset a notch and be prepared to learn a thing or two about expansion. Without further ado. Welcome to the first ever season of: | Put on your expansion shoes, tighten that corset a notch and be prepared to learn a thing or two about expansion. Without further ado. Welcome to the first ever season of: | ||
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The ??Earth Serpent?? is infamous for being a good, but **very** expensive, option for expansion. While it brings no path diversity it does bring a few other things to the table: | The ??Earth Serpent?? is infamous for being a good, but **very** expensive, option for expansion. While it brings no path diversity it does bring a few other things to the table: | ||
* A {{: | * A {{: | ||
- | * It begins with NatProt 20 and {{path> | + | * It begins with NatProt 20 and {{path> |
* It has {{: | * It has {{: | ||
* It is {{: | * It is {{: | ||
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Mercenaries can be a good and inexpensive way of speeding up your expansion for nations that are recruitment-capped but still have gold to spend. It is also a way for land-locked nations to go underwater if the right mercenaries show up. To buy a mercenary do the following three steps: | Mercenaries can be a good and inexpensive way of speeding up your expansion for nations that are recruitment-capped but still have gold to spend. It is also a way for land-locked nations to go underwater if the right mercenaries show up. To buy a mercenary do the following three steps: | ||
- Press //" | - Press //" | ||
- | - Go to the [[https:// | + | - Go to the [[https:// |
- Click on the province you want the mercenaries to appear in and place a reasonable bid on the mercenary bands you want. | - Click on the province you want the mercenaries to appear in and place a reasonable bid on the mercenary bands you want. | ||
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<WRAP column third>< | <WRAP column third>< | ||
<WRAP group> | <WRAP group> | ||
- | <WRAP group>< | + | <WRAP group>< |
* Bring enough of your own troops. 20-40 can be handled by a smaller expansions party while 50-100 will often need a larger party from you. | * Bring enough of your own troops. 20-40 can be handled by a smaller expansions party while 50-100 will often need a larger party from you. | ||
* Place your troops in the back on Hold & Attack Closest. This way the independents will split up and you can overwhelm each group in turn. | * Place your troops in the back on Hold & Attack Closest. This way the independents will split up and you can overwhelm each group in turn. | ||
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* Use units with slashing or blunt weapons against Longdead. Use chaff to take the charge of Longdead Horsemen | * Use units with slashing or blunt weapons against Longdead. Use chaff to take the charge of Longdead Horsemen | ||
</ | </ | ||
- | <WRAP group>< | + | <WRAP group>< |
* Use archers or javelins to rout them before they reach your frontline. | * Use archers or javelins to rout them before they reach your frontline. | ||
* Use high-protection units that can withstand the flurry of dagger blows. | * Use high-protection units that can withstand the flurry of dagger blows. | ||
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<WRAP group>< | <WRAP group>< | ||
* Bring units that are too large to be trampled (4-6 size). | * Bring units that are too large to be trampled (4-6 size). | ||
- | * Shoots them with arrows or bring magic like ??Sleep??, ?? | + | * Shoots them with arrows or bring magic like ??Sleep??, ?? |
</ | </ | ||
<WRAP group>< | <WRAP group>< | ||
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* **Unscripted squads:** By not scripting you hand over your faith to the Dominions AI, and if there is one thing you should never put your faith in, it is the Dominions AI. Learn those hotkeys so you quickly script your units for action! | * **Unscripted squads:** By not scripting you hand over your faith to the Dominions AI, and if there is one thing you should never put your faith in, it is the Dominions AI. Learn those hotkeys so you quickly script your units for action! | ||
* **Too few or fragile commanders: | * **Too few or fragile commanders: | ||
- | * **Unscripted commanders: | + | * **Unscripted commanders: |
* **Unblessed sacreds:** If you expand with sacreds make sure you bring enough holy commanders to bless your sacreds. Depending on your bless and sacreds, an unblessed sacred may be more likely to die, incurring unnecessary casualties and potentially losing you the fight. When blessing with priests with {{path> | * **Unblessed sacreds:** If you expand with sacreds make sure you bring enough holy commanders to bless your sacreds. Depending on your bless and sacreds, an unblessed sacred may be more likely to die, incurring unnecessary casualties and potentially losing you the fight. When blessing with priests with {{path> | ||
* **Using squads with <5 units:** Any squad with less than five units takes heavy morale penalties. Never use less than 5 units, unless you are using elite units lead by an elite commander. In that case set the elite units to bodyguard the commander and script the commander to attack (or buff and attack). | * **Using squads with <5 units:** Any squad with less than five units takes heavy morale penalties. Never use less than 5 units, unless you are using elite units lead by an elite commander. In that case set the elite units to bodyguard the commander and script the commander to attack (or buff and attack). | ||
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* You want your commander to not run ahead and die. Script them to //Hold x 4, Stay Behind Troops// for their own protection. | * You want your commander to not run ahead and die. Script them to //Hold x 4, Stay Behind Troops// for their own protection. | ||
+ | <WRAP box round> | ||
+ | **Lurch** shares this useful tip: Instead of scripting //Hold x 4, Stay Behind Troops// you can script non-mages to //Cast Spells// by using the **c** hotkey - even if that option is missing in the UI as it is for all commanders with no magic paths. By doing this you make sure they remain in the same spot throughout the fight without ever moving forward. This can be used to set up stationary commanders with bodyguards around your mages later on in the game. | ||
+ | </ | ||
Your troops' | Your troops' | ||
* Against a group of Heavy Cavalry and Heavy Infantry you might want to place your army all the way to the back to split apart the fast cavalry from the slow infantry. Your troops should be scripted to //Hold and...// | * Against a group of Heavy Cavalry and Heavy Infantry you might want to place your army all the way to the back to split apart the fast cavalry from the slow infantry. Your troops should be scripted to //Hold and...// | ||
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Prophetizing one of your starting commanders can give your initial expansion party a lot of extra firepower. All prophets are at least {{path> | Prophetizing one of your starting commanders can give your initial expansion party a lot of extra firepower. All prophets are at least {{path> | ||
- | A standard script for your prophet would be //Divine Blessing, Smite x4, Cast Spells// or //Smite x5, Cast Spells// if you brought no sacreds with you and the prophet | + | A standard script for your prophet would be //Divine Blessing, Smite x4, Cast Spells// or //Smite x5, Cast Spells// if you brought no sacreds with you as the prophet |
Make sure to take into account the range of your Smite. E.g. ??Word of Stone?? and ??Watery Death?? both have range 25 for instance, so your prophet might not be in range if they remain on the backline. In that case script //Advance and Cast Spells//. | Make sure to take into account the range of your Smite. E.g. ??Word of Stone?? and ??Watery Death?? both have range 25 for instance, so your prophet might not be in range if they remain on the backline. In that case script //Advance and Cast Spells//. | ||
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With all these objections in min there are several nations with access to assassins where their cap recruitment is throttle by something other than gold. In that case assassins can be an effective additional expansion party. Marignon and Vaettiheim are examples of nations that might consider complementing regular expansion with assassins. | With all these objections in min there are several nations with access to assassins where their cap recruitment is throttle by something other than gold. In that case assassins can be an effective additional expansion party. Marignon and Vaettiheim are examples of nations that might consider complementing regular expansion with assassins. | ||
+ | <WRAP box round> | ||
+ | **Lurch** adds this piece of advice: \\ | ||
+ | As for assassin expansion, there' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Script //Hold x2-3, Retreat//. Hopefully that gives time enough for the indies to vacate the battlefield, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Obviously if the province contains both fast and slow units, it's unlikely you can script it so that you're out of dodge before a cavalry charges (if assassinations failed) but long enough to wait out a squad of heavy infantry (if you succeeded).</ | ||
==== Thug expansion ==== | ==== Thug expansion ==== | ||
<WRAP group> | <WRAP group> | ||
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<WRAP group>< | <WRAP group>< | ||
</ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Commander Sniping ==== | ||
+ | <WRAP box round right third> | ||
+ | One advanced technique that can improve your expansion is to try to make the independents split up in a way that isolates the indie commanders and opens up for a quick kill. After all, the only thing you really need to kill in a province is the commanders. | ||
+ | |||
+ | One way of accomplishing this is to use archer bait squads on fire and keep distance placed to the front in the top or bottom. Opposite that in the back corner you place the squad that is supposed to kill the commander. The archer squads can be made up of a single archer, so five archers in five squads under a single commander. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The technique exploits the fact that the AI picks between available squads when picking a target without considering how many units are in the squad. This will often cause a big portion of the enemy forces to chase your archers leaving the commanders isolated for a flank kill. | ||
===== Example: Expansion with Jomon ===== | ===== Example: Expansion with Jomon ===== |