Let's Play: Dominions 4

[tehkory]

So. Real-life sucks recently, and I'm working a lot, which eats up a fair bit of my time. While I'm busy not playing SoI, I'm playing some less time-intensive. Dominions 4!

I've never done a Let's Play before, and this one likely won't last very long. I'm also not good at this game at all. I'll probably divide the game up into in-character fluff and technical explanations.

Dominions 4 is stupid complex. There's nations, and the nations survive over eras, and there's magic in schools and research trees, and it all interweaves and it's essentially "I wonder if Morgoth could take on Odin" meets 4X strategy.

So, to start:
I'm playing this game with Holmes and Padweld. You'll probably see posts from them, and there'll be screenshots and stuff. If the game goes as well as last time, I'll never expand past 3 provinces, and then die anticlimactically and disastrously, while thousands of men die in Holmes' and Padweld's wars.

Warning: May be tiny pictures of naked sprites here and there, because Gods and fantasy creatures have no sense of decorum.

[Rivean]

Dominions 4 is stupid complex. There's nations, and the nations survive over eras, and there's magic in schools and research trees, and it all interweaves and it's essentially "I wonder if Morgoth could take on Odin" meets 4X strategy.

This sounds fantastic.

[tehkory]

Dominions 4 is stupid complex. There's nations, and the nations survive over eras, and there's magic in schools and research trees, and it all interweaves and it's essentially "I wonder if Morgoth could take on Odin" meets 4X strategy.

This sounds fantastic.

It really makes my nerdy nether-regions tingle.

I removed the pictures from the post, and tossed them into an Imgur album, with commentary. I'll make sure I keep posting here, but the meat of pictures/specific analysis is going to sit over there. Plenty of garlands here, though.

http://imgur.com/a/FsJen

And so that wraps up the first 'real' pre-game post. If there's any questions, feel free to shoot them my way. Expect some from Holmes, and maybe others from Padweld(and a surprise guest!)

[Padweld]

Alright, let's start off by saying that I am no better than Kory at this game, but Ulm is the best faction ever in the history of everything, as I will demonstrate by this:

http://imgur.com/a/Y5izR

As you can see, Ulm doesn't partake in that fancy-smanschy 'magic-flinging' or 'horse-riding' that other nations stoop to. Oh no, we contain our magic where it belongs, inside the confines of holy steel, and our horses where they belong...In our pies. Glorious Hephaestus will guide Ulm on my nations path to make him the one true God. All who oppose us will be rent asunder, as is only right and proper.

On the technical side, Ulm is a nation that doesn't use Horsemen (they consider it unmanly). However, sneaking up on an enemy and then tearing him apart is perfectly acceptable, so most of their troops are sneaky to some degree. Their holy warriors are equipped in steel (which almost no one else has) and they has inherently better magical items.

My god specializes in making magic items and by having a pretty strong dominion (his realm has more benefits/spreads faster influence-wise). He is dormant at the moment and will emerge about a year into the game, whereupon he will locate the nearest forge and pound out his holy arsenal upon it.

Any questions, feel free!

[Canawa]

I read all of this and looked at the posts... Still have no clue what's happening.

[Padweld]

basically we all are playing a strategy game where we each represent a "pretender god" of our choosing, and then try to topple each other to become the supreme God. I'm a race of steel-obsessed barbarians, kory is giants who eat people, I believe, and Holmes...well, don't know yet.

[Canawa]

And how does one read up/access this game?

[Holmes]

I'll do my intro post later tonight probably.

Here's the game, for those interested: http://store.steampowered.com/app/259060/

It's fairly expensive, because it's a super niche strategy game. Totally worth it though, if you know what you're getting into.

[tehkory]

And how does one read up/access this game?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let's_Play_(video_gaming)

A Let's Play is a play-by-play of a particular playthrough of a videogame someone's playing(I tried to fit the word play in there as much as I could; I may be unhelpful). I feel like that's the particular piece of info you're missing in this scenario. We've all bought this particular game, and are playing it together(3-4 of us).

[Zargen]

Holy shit i thought i was the only perso with that game. Sign me up for your next match when ever you feel like it. Been playing since dominions 2


Edit - and im going to argue against the horses are for panzies when it comes to Ulm. sure during their conanesqe riddle of steel era they dont have any. But with the other two eras Ulm fields the heaviest cavalry in the game!

[Padweld]

Well yes, by then they had lost their way! I feel shamed by their admittance of weakness.

(also, Niefelheim wins because they have little people riding moose)

[Zargen]

E9N9 bless on any giant race: hax. Or even worse N9B9 on mictlan blessed hordes.


I eagerly sharpen my blades and gear my masses for war when ever I can get in on a game.

Anyone play with mods? Ive been trying forever for a mass warhammer mod match.

[EltanimRas]

I'm entertained so far. Looking forward to meeting our third group.

[Letters]

Niche strategy games are a bad habit of mine - the main culprits are usually Matrix Games/Slitherine, and Battlefront. I'll keep an eye on this one.

Holmes' Steam friends list makes me feel hopelessly inadequate.

[Holmes]

Niche strategy games are a bad habit of mine - the main culprits are usually Matrix Games/Slitherine, and Battlefront. I'll keep an eye on this one.

Holmes' Steam friends list makes me feel hopelessly inadequate.

Dominions 3 was actually published by Matrix. Not sure if 4 is as well. I'll post before I sleep tonight, probably.

[Holmes]

http://imgur.com/a/ddK2U

I'm playing as Lanka, the caste-based society of cannibalistic apes. Also demons. Lots of angry, angry demons. I'll be using those demons to crush anyone who doesn't look tasty enough to eat.

[Zargen]

Does anyone else absolutely hate the music yet?

I listen to a lot of Coheed and Cambria, Dragon Force and the like when I play Dom. Then again I can say the same about when I play SOI.

[Padweld]

The first turn has begun, and the war against the dirty heathens and their cannibalistic/caste-based ways is commencing. I am recruiting my first war-smith and getting my troops ready. I will not be leaping blind into the nearby provinces. Why? Because the God of Ulm did not raise really, really stupid subjects.

[tehkory]

Holy shit i thought i was the only perso with that game. Sign me up for your next match when ever you feel like it. Been playing since dominions 2

Not sure if/when we'll do another one, but I'll keep it in mind. One of my favorite elements of 3-player gameplay is that the balance is 'just right' for the last-place player to always be able to remain competitive(assuming both players don't decide to just partition someone). Eventually, the 'first' two players are going to come to blows...and it's always, always possible for player #3 to come back and sneak ahead while they're destroying eachother.

Difficult, but possible. The more players you add, the more irrelevant the 'weakest' player becomes(and the more irrelevant the strongest, but -someone- has to win).

We've had about 3 previous games between us. Holmes and I(unintentionally) squished Padweld's C'tis on our first game on the same turn, and then turned on eachother; Holmes then beat me in one decisive engagement, while I had 2 corsair raider armies running all over his turf...but I'm willing to cede that game to him. I think he had it.

Then I played Monkeygame, while Holmes's dominion killed me while I wasn't paying attention and Padweld's vast hordes of Pangaean monstrosities overwhelmed Holmes.

And finally Holmes tried Ermor, and I beat his undead horde armies with T'ien Ch'i's priests and standard infantry. Padweld and Holmes proceeded to destroy eachother in a pointless war over diplomatic failures, and I mopped up the pieces without even trying. Despite being outnumbered about 6-to-1, Padweld's giants utterly shattered Holmes's undead hordes...and both his and Holmes's chances at victory.

So. With a win under each of our belts, this is going to be a fun game.

So: as Padweld noted, the game's begun(though only the first turn). I'll be uploading my first fluffpost, and a whole heap of pictures to explain Hinnom and my general strategy. I trust Padweld/Holmes not to look at the imgur album, though, which is where any real 'OOC' discussion of how the game's going to be happening(in my posts). I'll answer questions about the games in those, too.

[Padweld]

To be FAIR, my Jotunheim/Ermor conflict had a very good point that I achieved flawlessly: the complete and utter annihilation of Holmes after his unprovoked attack. I succeeded heroically, and was satisfied with my death afterward.

[tehkory]

To be FAIR, my Jotunheim/Ermor conflict had a very good point that I achieved flawlessly: the complete and utter annihilation of Holmes after his unprovoked attack. I succeeded heroically, and was satisfied with my death afterward.

I wasn't arguing at the time, and I'm certainly not now.

That said, here's some volumes detailing the map/Hinnom/the first turn. Spoilers for Padwelds and Holmes in all of them. Fluffpost incoming shortly.

Big Black Peaks:
http://imgur.com/a/LhDrX
Hinnom's Roster:
http://imgur.com/a/HM3lR
Opening Moves:
http://imgur.com/a/nPQQz

With Hinnom's Roster, it's probably a lot to take it, but it's there for the extra-curious(and for people to reference later). Nothing interesting has happened yet, but...we have our playing field. And our dramatis personae.

[Padweld]

Once I figure out how to make an album in Imgur (AKA when I'm not feeling lazy and do it) I'll post my opening turn myself.

[Padweld]

http://imgur.com/a/Kaki0

there is my second turn overview! Obviously it has spoilers for TehKory and Holmes, but short story is that the advance of the God of the Stone, the One True God of Dominions, is proceeding apace.