Dominions 5 Thread

[Glimbur]

Our thread died out over the great forum freeze, but I think we can breathe life into it. There's a sale!

Game is https://www.gamersgate.com/DD-DOMINI...785951-6305441 51% off for almost 2 days. What with people's lives changing it may be a good time to take up a game with a long learning curve.

Dominions 5 is a turn based strategy game. You command a nation, build troops, research magic, and eventually want to drive out all other pretenders and ascend to godhood. The neat things about it are the magic system (over 1000 spells) and the combat system. You don't control battles, you script orders ahead of time then watch as your mages burn your infantry and ignore the enemy lion-scorpion god. Or rejoice as your old man casts shocking grasp and kills the enemy's assassin. It's a very deep game, with faith, magic, and troops all playing a role. I like it!

[lord_khaine]

I can warmly recomend Dominion 5 as well. At least if you enjoy large scale strategy games.
The base game alone got content for a year or more. And after that there are a small GITP multiplayer community.

For keeping this alive.

Dominion 5 (heavily modded) Lets Play: Ending the Age of Wonders

Spoiler: Turn 0-6

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Journal of Token Normal Guy, TNK, Grand arcmage of the 7 schools of magic (we dont acknowledge blood as a school), Highest Lord of Atlantis.

Month 0, Year 0 after the fall of the Creator.
Its time to end the Age of Wonders. The old idiot finally got himself lost for gods knows where.
Now its time to clean up the mess. At the moment the world is overun with bizare creations, electrical mice, fire breathing salamanders. The Stuff. That wont go. We need to get rid of them in the name of civilisation.

First, time to take stock. What do we have available here in the underwater town of.. whats this place called? Atlantis? Weird name. Whatever.

Seems the shambles around here are quite a bit bigger, stronger and smarter than regular humans. Gods again knows that dont takes much. But unfortunately that mean it will cost a bit more to recruit them for my exter- ahem cleaning campaign.

Well cant be helped. Im starting by sending a small scouting parting out south to restore civilisation.



Month 2, Year 0.
Blasted! My scouting party returns having brough down a barbarian band of merfolk to the south.
And reports that a weird gang of human steel-worshippers have put down a major town by my shore.
Barely a months march from Atlantis for anyone who can breathe under water. This is highly iregular, and as i recall also against the building codes set down by the previous creator.

We cant have this. It needs to be fixed, even before i start exterminating failed lab experiments from a divine madman. I need more soldiers for that though. Some of those creations got meter long claws that can cut steel. Or breathe fire. Or if we are lucky just breathe thunder.
I need a lot more soldiers.

So sending a reinforcement party out to link up with the scouts. They can then also handle a gang of uncivil trolls at the same time.



Month 4+5, Year 0.
Urrgg! The coastland is infested with even more weird creatures. Is that a giraffe?!
…

No the scout reports its a psychic giraffe even as his brain dribble out of his ear.
Those things hit the top of the extermination list.
For now a team of mercenaries have been hired, to aid in the continued sweep of the west lake.

And i have hired another scholar to help run the place. Meanwhile im moving out to personally survey the land. Cleaning up the land will require magic. And that means rare components or exotic ores of a kind im better suited to find than a expedition of regular mages.



Month 6, Year 0.
What sort of madman makes telepathic coconuts?!
I lost an entire expedition force to those freakish abominations, their brain slowly dribbling out their ears as they ran around in circles before the wildlife mercifully chewed them up. And to add spot to injury, a moment later someone drove a heard of plants into the region, eradicating the coconuts and taking over in the name of some weird town.

They are now on the List.
Along with Olive city of course.

Turns 7-12

Spoiler

Show

Month 7, Year 0.
Things progress peacefully. I have decided to ignore the insane wildlife on the coast for now. And instead focus on securing the provinces of the lake.

The prospecting expedition does continue to pay off nicely. As i this time managed to find a peculiar moving sandbank that will be a great component for forging blacksteel weapons.

Month 8, year 0.
A tribe of Merrow has been spottet at the northen bank of the lake. They might be useful for cleaning up the world. So a small expedition is send up to make contact with them. And ahem.. convince them to join up for the greater good.

Meanwhile im giving up on my previous resolution to ignore the land.
A minor pack of salamanders have also been discovered. Thats very unusual, i though the great salamander had gone extinct? Another team is send to investigate.



Month 9, year 0.
Curses! My north expedition team was ambushed by traitors, mercenaries who work for one of the mad land powers. In this case especially mad, since they seemingly worpship the dead reject of the creators first monster experiments?

Thats insane. Insane –and- heresy against the new word of god. They are getting on the list as well.
I just think ill refrain from telling them that though.

And to ad spot to injury the eastern coast team reported that it was not in fact great salamanders. It was monster fire breathing salamanders. They lost about ½ their numbers taking them down, and are now returning to regroup.
Though at least they did remember to leave my flag at the beach.



Month 10, Year 0.
A very peaceful month. Surveing the depth has been nicely relaxing. Hiring General Ham to handle the troop logistics were a wise move. That stuff is a headache.

As it is, troops are now being massed along the east and west edge of the lake to handle two issues at the same time. An aboleth mind lord doing god knows what right next to atlantis. As well as a large camp of Amber clan Merfolk who refuses to join the cause.



Month 11, Year 0.
Damnation! That cursed lungfish ate my entire scout team!
How can trained soldiers fail to stab something the size of a sea elephant and the speed of a sea cucumber?! I mean yes alright it just happens to be a powerful astral mage as well. Who had enslaved a gang of sea trolls to protect it.
But oh well. Nothing to do except throw some more men after it.



Month 12, Year 0.
Well. End of the first year is looming, and so its time to take stock of the situation.
Our exploration were hampered by a couple mishaps, namely 2 exploration parties getting eating by insane wildlife. And to add spot to injury a town up north has begun to lay claim to the norther bank.

Research meanwhile could also have gotten better. Atlanteans are not scholars by nature. And so any with that inclination demands a fairly hefty salary.

Main bright spot remains the amount of valuable magic sites that have been found.
Enough to more than tripple my starting income. That its going to be invaluable further into the war.

Because war is brewing. Only question remains with whom.
Ghost town to the north?
Water town to the west?
Steel town to the south?

[Glimbur]

Ouch, that is a lot of trouble getting out of your pond. What have you been researching? Water elementals might help, though the lesser ones require a lot of mages and gems to be effective.

[tyckspoon]

PokeIndies? Whuff. Yeah, that probably makes for some.. interesting expansion challenges. Not sure I'd be confident enough to take a vanilla UW nation into that. Is this a multiplayer or single-player game?

I'd probably go after the Water or Ghost PokeNations first - they're the ones that are going to be best equipped to fight you in your lake. If you can take them out then you are relatively safe from the other nations, and can pick and choose your timing to attack.


(Also this map is a great example of why people don't like the default map generator. Your own private island throne and at least two, quite probably 3 land capitals on the water coasts.. if you figure out how to fight the Pokemon that's a really comfortable setup.)

[lord_khaine]

Ouch, that is a lot of trouble getting out of your pond. What have you been researching? Water elementals might help, though the lesser ones require a lot of mages and gems to be effective.

Yeah, to start with water elementals are close to worthless before the greater ones.
And the greater ones are also a lot less usefull against pokemons with elemental attacks.
Instead i have been getting alteration. Its a lot more useful on my best mages

Spoiler: Bad fish

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And hitting Alt 5 will be very useful for Your God and Savior

Spoiler: Token Normal Guy

Show

PokeIndies? Whuff. Yeah, that probably makes for some.. interesting expansion challenges. Not sure I'd be confident enough to take a vanilla UW nation into that. Is this a multiplayer or single-player game?

Oh its multiplayer. I would not dare to bore the select taste of the GITP regulars with something so pedestrian as PVE
Jokes aside, there are a reason for why gods name is Token Normal Guy. There is also a reason for why im hiding in the bottom of a pond..
Though as the journal mentioned. Its only the surface that have a Pokemon problem. I expanded against regular indies.

I'd probably go after the Water or Ghost PokeNations first - they're the ones that are going to be best equipped to fight you in your lake. If you can take them out then you are relatively safe from the other nations, and can pick and choose your timing to attack.

But yeah. Strategically it likely makes most sense to eleminate those nations first. Lets see what general Ham says in a couple turns?

(Also this map is a great example of why people don't like the default map generator. Your own private island throne and at least two, quite probably 3 land capitals on the water coasts.. if you figure out how to fight the Pokemon that's a really comfortable setup.)

Heh... this is nothing, the last game i played had 3/14 thrones under water. Getting the required 7 for victory suddenly became close to impossible.
But you are correct. There are 3 nations with capitals bordering the lake. And Ghost Pokemon town who are god knows where but still to close.

[Glimbur]

Fair, Alt has some good stuff for earth mages. Also some water stuff, though Frozen Heart is a little deep for a first goal. Are you going straight for Mother Oak? I figured you wouldn't have the gems to cast it by the time you research there, though I don't know your life. Lack of native N mages hurts there.

I don't think water is that great, so that may be coloring my perceptions. But some quickened Str of Giants Legions of Steel shamblers with armor could put in work. Kind of depends what you're up against, as I recall the pokemon do lots of elemental damage. So you'll pick a target and find a way to resist their shenanigans. Whatever comes with that is gravy.

Or just beeline acid rain and kill ghosts with magic damage. I dunno. Cleansing Water is again too high research for early use and I'm not sure Ghost pokemon are actually undead.

[lord_khaine]

Well, funny enough, it being EA there are plenty of nature gems for the picking
You just need to find them. And as Token Normal guy already explain, he is doing the site searching himself.
So with how horrible Atlantis mages are at research, it wont be a problem having the gems by Alt 5.

So yeah. And i also agree on water in general not being the best combat path.
If i want to bust ghosts i have a better option. national H3 mages. With a Penetration bless.
But yeah i need to comfirm they are in fact ghosts.

Also i apologize for a lack of updates. The turns are currently going very slow. The game is only at turn 18 or so.

And on a side note.

Recruitment is open for a large scale disciple game

Regular dominions 5. Aim is at least 4 versus 4.
Age will likely be Middle unless a majority votes EA.

[lord_khaine]

Ending the Age of Wonders, Chapter 2

We finally get the answer on who Token Normal Guy decides to wage war on.

Spoiler

Show

Month 14, Year 1.
Preparations have been made. Not to wage war yet.
But instead to handle 2 important issues. First of all, a large force of deep ones have been given enchanted spears, and are being send in the direction of the aboleth harrasing the east province of Atlantis. I dont expect to see more than half of them at best return.

Secondly, im outsourcing my research projects to the amber clan mages in the west. They are moderatly smart, and only asks for about half the salary of an atlantean mage.
In return they cant leave the water. So they are kinda useless as combat mages when i begin my campaign of Pokemon extermination.

[IMG][/IMG]

Month 15, Year 1.
Yes! My name be praised! The stupid telepathic sea slug is dead. The whole lake is mine at last!
(if we ignore that the northen bit is haunted by ghosts)
Its now time to consolidate my forces at the capital.

[IMG][/IMG]

Month 16, Year 1.
With all the prospecting i have done, its now possible to gather 25 gems of assorted type each month. That is very nice, later on it will allow me to build up a magical industry.

For now, it seems one of the treats to my border has been eleminated. The amphibious lake dwellers of Cerulean City is being overrun by rock monsters. I will need to monitor that situation a little more closely.
Scouts have at last been hired. But dam funds are tight. Its hard juggling the investment in the outsourced research project Undersea Oak, with also needing to train pokemon exterminators in Atlantis.

[IMG][/IMG]

Month 18, Year 1.
Things are getting very interesting. I found a new type of kelp in the sea of plenty that might have intesting applications as enchanted building material. And the Amber Clan sages seems moderatly competent.
Building a pair of labs out here was a huge investment, about as big as constructing a fort. But i think it will pay off swiftly.

On a side note im just getting told General Ham is moving in to attack Olive City? Stating and i quote ”their army consist of mainly sentient pinecones? Thats a joke!”
Well.. i cant argue about the joke part. I have –no- idea what goes on in that city. Or the creators mind when he made those things. Anyway, if they cant survive deep ones running up to stab them with stone spears then its clearly evolution in action.

[IMG][/IMG]

Month 19, Year 1.
Biggest fattest nope! Im calling the army back right now.
A little bit of scouting, and a little bit of divination, revealed what the army of Olive City consisted off. I have no idea about what role the sentient pinecones perform, pets? Food?
But the actual army was made out of rock crushing bugs about the size of a ox. Im not sending troops into that grinder, those things need to be handled by dropping meteors.

Im marching the army back home instead. Perhaps i can find something more productive for them to do.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[Glimbur]

Those Scizor seem kind of... brutal? 40 gold, and poor formation fighter, but 18 MR 20 Prot 3 attacks plus a ranged attack and above-average stats... I'd hire them a lot. Fire vuln only helps so much when most fire spells are AP, not AN. Maybe you can fatigue them out with massed fireballs or Heat from Hell or something but that seems dicey. Summer lions would get shredded by all those magic attacks, not sure there's a durable enough heat aura unit to use. Dropping meteors seems like the right call; either that or swarm them down with bugs or something. 5 encumbrance is not excessively high, but it's something.

[lord_khaine]

Your leaving out the best part
They take ½ damage from piercing and slashing, so physical violence is generally not worth the effort.
And metal claw is a 19 dam AP attack, so you cant tank them with a regular SC build.
They are monsters who can munch even insufficiently blessed Anakites or Zhaydans.

To make matters even worse, Olive City can train these monsters for free, 1 per temple/month.
They are not recruited normally, hence why i did not initially notice them on Olive City's rooster.
I saw a few of them running around, but though they were the unevolved form of the more reasonable scyther.

[Glimbur]

Any luck on your large disciple game?

I'll be starting a Magic Explodes (Dominions enhanced) game maybe next week. The general idea of the mod is it makes magic better, to the point where you expand with magic summons or geared up commanders or something. It's wild and a lot of fun. I'll drop a link to the discord in here when the discord recruiting channel opens.

[tyckspoon]

Your leaving out the best part
They take ½ damage from piercing and slashing, so physical violence is generally not worth the effort.
And metal claw is a 19 dam AP attack, so you cant tank them with a regular SC build.
They are monsters who can munch even insufficiently blessed Anakites or Zhaydans.

To make matters even worse, Olive City can train these monsters for free, 1 per temple/month.
They are not recruited normally, hence why i did not initially notice them on Olive City's rooster.
I saw a few of them running around, but though they were the unevolved form of the more reasonable scyther.

At least they're not sacred? I remember having a bit of an argument about basically all pokemon having really unusually high MR and the guy making the mod going 'yeah I'm only going to give lower MR to Fighting types and they're only going to have normal MR for troops.' So.. working as intended I guess. Not really sure where the balance point of pokemon is desired to be, but it's nowhere near the vanilla level.

[lord_khaine]

Any luck on your large disciple game?

I'll be starting a Magic Explodes (Dominions enhanced) game maybe next week. The general idea of the mod is it makes magic better, to the point where you expand with magic summons or geared up commanders or something. It's wild and a lot of fun. I'll drop a link to the discord in here when the discord recruiting channel opens.

It has been surprisingly slow. As if all the regular players i know have gone into quarantine somewhere out in the woods

At least they're not sacred? I remember having a bit of an argument about basically all pokemon having really unusually high MR and the guy making the mod going 'yeah I'm only going to give lower MR to Fighting types and they're only going to have normal MR for troops.' So.. working as intended I guess. Not really sure where the balance point of pokemon is desired to be, but it's nowhere near the vanilla level.

I would say thank gods for small mercies. Except it hardly matters
Since i mean, it does not need to be sacred, to already be a nasty fight for even a blessed anakite. But yeah looking at it, its MR is -also- to high. Just like just about every other stat on the thing.
And the balance point target is as such vanilla, even if i have had a lot of debates with the creator about it. I suspect part of the problem is a lot of his other test games wants buff for their favorite pokemon types.
All the same. It was agreed that Scizor were a pokemon that had managed to slip under the radar.

[Olinser]

OKAY, we are recruiting for our next pairs game of 2v2v2v2v2.....

Currently we have 8 people signed up, or enough for 4 teams of 2, and are accepting more people that want to sign up, if not, we'll go with 4 teams.

Link to discord is HERE:

https://discord.gg/3buSzmu