Or a brief history of the fan community by Maerlande.

Dominions: Priests Prophets & Pretenders is a turn based fantasy game in which you take the role of a pretending god. Each pretender is Lord and Master of one of fourteen cultures, each with its own individual strengths and weaknesses. With the aid of soldiers and mages you will conquer the lands of your neighbors in a struggle for total domination. Priests and prophets will preach throughout the world to spread your dominion, the manifestation of your divine supremacy.

from http://illwinter.com/dom/index.html

Released September 22, 2002

I can not comment on the fan community of this time as I was not a member. If someone else can, please join.

Dominions II: The Ascension Wars is a turn based fantasy game in which you take the role of a pretending god. It's the sequel to Dominions: Priests, Prophets & Pretenders. Each pretender is Lord and Master of one of seventeen cultures, each with its own individual strengths and weaknesses. With the aid of soldiers and mages you will conquer the lands of your neighbors in a struggle for total domination. Priests and prophets will preach throughout the world to spread your dominion, the manifestation of your divine supremacy.

fromhttp://illwinter.com/dom2/index.html

Released November 14, 2003

The Old God has left the world and the pretenders are awakening and coming out from hiding. You start the game by designing one of the pretender gods that will compete for true ascension to godhood. The type of god can range from a magically powerful arch mage to an ancient kraken or a mystic monolith that people pray to.

Dominions 3 is a turn based strategy game taking place in a fantasy world with world altering magic rituals and horrors capable of destroying nations.

A large variety of spells, monsters and special abilities is something this game definitely has. There are more than 60 different nations, 1500 different units, 600 spells and 300 magic items in the game. The game also features a medieval musical score by Erik Ask Uppmark and Anna Rynefors, both awarded the title of Musicians of the Realm by the Swedish Zornmärkeskommiten. Dominions 3 is a highly detailed game and a 300 page pdf manual is included in the download.

from: http://illwinter.com/dom3/index.html

Released September 29, 2006 Publisher: Shrapnel Games

I, Maerlande, bought Dominions 3 for about $60 in 2008. I greatly enjoyed playing it single player for about a year while I lurked on the Shrapnel Games forums reading many ideas about how to play the game. One of the most interesting things I read was a long and ragged argument about why the 3 Indian monkey nations could never win a multiplayer game of Dominions so I spent my next year figuring out how to play them well. Those are Kailasa in early age, Bandar Log in Middle Age, and Patala in late. Eventually I developed the confidence to play multiplayer and joined a few games.

At this time, I won't link the Shrapnel Forums as they are showing some malware. But I still reference some of the strategy guides from those pages. The community was quite centralized at the time with most of the online players posted and organizing on the Shrapnel Forums. One of the advantages was that it was a central location for guides and games. A disadvantage was that the publisher had a lot of control. A common complaint was the high price which sometimes had small 10% off sales.

I watched as many other communities formed including Something Awful, a group on 4chan, Dom3mods, Quarter to 3 and other forums. We also had a strong chat community on Internet Relay Chat in the days before Discord and all the improved quality of life that brought.

Those with a deep interest in how those communities grew and formed could dig up the history.

You are a God! You are master and ruler of a loyal nation. You have unimaginable powers at your disposal. You have claimed this world as yours. But there are others who stand in your way. You must defeat and destroy these pretenders. Only then can you ascend to godhood and become the new Pantokrator.

In Dominions you take control of a powerful being that rules a nation and aspires to godhood. The type of Pretender Gods can vary from magically powerful arch mages to huge titans or large monuments. The pretender gods have different strengths dependent on what kind of god you choose and what nation you play.

When you start the game you decide what kind of god you are and how your Dominion affects your lands and followers. It is an expression of your divine might and the faith of your followers. If your dominion dies, so do you. Your dominion also inspires your sacred warriors and gives them powers derived from your dominion.

In order to win and become the one true god you have to defeat your enemies one of three different ways: conquer their lands, extinguish their dominion or claim the Thrones of Ascension.

In Dominions 4 you can also play team games where one of the players take the role of supreme god, and the other members of the team are his servants and loyal subjects. The lesser gods rule their nations, but you all share the dominion of the supreme god. Dominions is set in a fantasy world that draws inspiration from historical nations, cultures and myths. You will not encounter the elves of conventional fantasy in this game. Instead you might lead a nation of vanir from old norse myth. Aztecs, romans, israelites, greeks, shona and kievian rus are just a few of the inspirational sources of the game.

The first Dominions game was released in 2002 and was well received by strategy gamers. Since then Dominions has been much refined and Dominions series is still actively played making it one of the longest running 4x turn based strategy games.

Dominions 4 is also a highly moddable game. You can create your own monsters, spells and entire nations. Since Dominions 3 there has been a vivid modding community and Dominions 4 will enhance this capability even further.

from: http://illwinter.com/dom4/index.html

Released October 10, 2013

You are a God! You are master and ruler of a loyal nation. You have unimaginable powers at your disposal. You have claimed this world as yours. But there are others who stand in your way. You must defeat and destroy these pretenders. Only then can you ascend to godhood and become the new Pantokrator.

In Dominions you take control of a powerful being that rules a nation and aspires to godhood. The type of Pretender Gods can vary from magically powerful arch mages to huge titans or large monuments. The pretender gods have different strengths dependent on what kind of god you choose and what nation you play.

When you start the game you decide what kind of god you are and how your Dominion affects your lands, followers and sacred soldiers. It is an expression of your divine might and the faith of your followers. If your dominion dies, so do you. Your dominion also inspires your sacred warriors and gives them powers derived from your dominion.

In order to win and become the one true god you have to defeat your enemies one of three different ways: conquer their lands, extinguish their dominion or claim the Thrones of Ascension.

New for Dominions 5 is that a God's bless effects can be customized in detail giving a new set of choices for the aspiring Gods. Battles have also received a major change and now feature simultaneous movement for all participating units. Fireballs and arrows will now fly at the same time as everyone is moving and watching large battles will be quicker than before.

Dominions is set in a fantasy world that draws inspiration from historical nations, cultures and myths. You will not encounter the elves of conventional fantasy in this game. Instead you might lead a nation of vanir from old norse myth. Aztecs, romans, israelites, greeks, kievian rus and lovecraftian horrors are just a few of the inspirational sources of the game.

The first Dominions game was released in 2002 and was well received by strategy gamers. Since then Dominions has been much refined and Dominions series is still actively played making it one of the longest running 4x turn based strategy games.

from: http://illwinter.com/dom5/index.html

Released 27 Nov, 2017