After the new version has been running some time, I shall attempt to sum up my thoughts and impressions regarding the game as it stands and the changes from last version:
1: Movement.
After the infantry movement was put back and the Targ cavalry movement put a bit down, I have felt a lot happier. However, with both Targ and Wise still moving 2 squares per turn (s/t) faster than normal cavalry, I fear that a lot of games will still be conclusively decided in the recruitment phase, which is the least fun games. My preference is the games where the two or more sides are not too far from each other in strength, so we actually get some duels on tactics and strategy. Recruitment can ultimatly be broken down in mathematics, and if starting point and the following recruitment continues to be more important, I think we are on a wrong course. So I fear the increased speed may be a danger to the gameplay in the long run.
2: Searching:
Is it just me, or do searching seem so yield another set of results than before? I have asked J-Y about this, and he says the chances hasn't been altered. But I still feel that something has changed, even if I have no statistical material to base it on.
Strongholds do not give Shelter as often as they use to. In old versions it felt like a 50 percent chance of finding it, now it seems more like 25 percent. I am considering moving my armies from Citadels to lakes for giving them their energy back. Lakes seem to work as they used to, at least.
Liths do produce more Dawns than they used to, and both Bloods and Chills are down. More blank results than before. Result is that you search more at liths than before, with the more downs giving extra turns, but in the end I think it take longer to get a lord up to full courage. And since we now can see the energy being used every time they search, and knowing it takes longer to get energy levels back, well, it makes the game seem longer in the preparation phase (the phase between recruitment and active campaigning, if you were in doubt).
Lakes, as I said earlier, seem to work as usual. The other features of Midnight; Caverns, Henges, Snowhalls, Ruins and to a certain extent even Villages, are pure landscape to me. I never waste time searching there, but at least they don't come with a movement penalty, so I tolerate them and treat them as plains. In later developments I would like to see these features have each their own attraction to make searching there worth your while. Swords, armour, extra movement for army, ect... ?
3: New Lords: Generally I like them. Good names, reasonable placements. I just have the same old complaint that Tujarg shouldn't be in a mountain keep, new passes or not. But that's an old thing, and has nothing to do with this version.
4: Garrisons:
Citadels produce a lot less new troops, something like 12 riders and 16 warriors per turn. I'm not sure I like this, as this reduces the strategic aspect of the game, the incitament to actively defend you holdings instead of just concentrating one place. I know the argument that in longer 3- or 4-player games the citadels of dead kings just kept increasing in strength to make them impossible to _easily_ take over for the active players. I never thought this was a problem, but I hated the invisible garrison commander. With him gone, taking on a citadel, even with 2500 defenders, doesn't bother me.
I feel that new recruits generated at citadels should be at least doubled. In longer games it should be an advantage and a reward to control citadels, as controlling a lot of citadels usually is a result of active playing. An active player should more easily be able to risk losing some troops in engagements, as the more citadels allows for faster replacements, compared to the player with one citadel where all the players armies are hiding.
Garrisons at keeps are a mystery to me, or rather, most keeps are at the present gameplay a mystery to me. I know three keeps [+] where there is a bit merit of keeping a garrison to block enemy forces, otherwise they seem a waste to garrison. The garrison is passive, and apart from denying the keep itself to an enemy the benefit is limited. Like with citadels, I would like if holding and garrisoning keeps gave a more direct benefit somewhere in the gameplay. I know that putting 250 men inside give you a view from the keep, but there should be more. Extra recruitment at nearby citadels?
5: Battles: Should not be different at all, should they? They feel different. I have only had one major engagement in the new version so far, game 9 - Birds of Fire, but it seems very wrong. Some of my armies inflict a lot of damage, while similar armies (same size and composition, same leadership, same energy) make no impact at all. Likewise some armies seem to take all the damage, while other in the smae spot barely is touched at all. A faint guess would be that the random factors have become greater, so that the ranges in recieving and inflicting damage has increased. A greater range, together with random numbers concentrating at the extremes could be an explanation.
I liked the old system better, it seemed more dependable. You knew what to expect when going into battle, and that has changed. [**]
Dragons as well seem strange. They are reported to die, yet they live on. And the damage they inflict when fighting half a dozen enemy armies and survive is amazing.
6: Allies Page: I love it. Simply love it. The only thing I would have changed is to move dead allies to the bottom of the list and don't continue to include them in the number of members in the alliance, but that's a minor thing. At a time further down the line I would like to see a local 'Allies and Enemies Page' replace the 'Here' button, as the Allies Page have better design and are easier to access information-wise.
Oh yeah, Resign Button. We have talked about it before. I think it is placed a dangerous place. You know that.
7: Alliances: Sometime in the future I would like to see an option where two players officially can join in alliance and help each other in battles and at strongholds. However, 'Alliance victory' should not be among the victory conditions. All alliances should automatically end as the enemies of the alliance are dead. There can only be one!
That's about it for now.
[+] The 3 keeps worth garrisoning are: 1)The keep in Valethor directly to the east of the citadel of Gorgrath. It is between the mountains and can block an enemy force.
2)The Keep of Herath, also a blocking position.
3) The most SW keep in the domain of Ithril. It blocks the entry/exit to the place in the mountains where there is just one mountain to traverse to the other side.
[**] Jean-Yves, I expect '9 - Birds of Fire' to lie still over the weekend as Andrea usually isn't online in weekends. Feel free to examine the very many battle reports in that game. It shouldn't take you long to discover that something doesn't feel right. The battle results are very uneven.
