RogerRabid
(id: Roger the Rampant) |
Posted on 04/23/07 @ 02:21 PM
| File Details |
|---|
| Ruleset: |
AoW: SM - Unofficial Patch 1.4 |
| Map Size: |
M |
| Levels: |
3 |
| Single Player?: |
Yes |
| Co-Op vs. AI?: |
Yes |
| PBEM/Hotseat?: |
Yes |
| Multiplayer Online?: |
Yes |
| # of Wizards: |
3 |
| # of players: |
3 |
| Skill Level: |
Average |
| Password Protected: |
Yes |
3 player Dwiggs (1.4 patch) map designed for online games. You need Upatch 1.4 installed (http://aow2.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=661), as well as Dwiggs 1.4 (http://aow2.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=612), Dwiggs 1.4 Patch (http://aow2.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=756), also the resources and ilb update (http://aow2.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=758)
NOTE: PLEASE READ THE SIGNS NEXT TO THE INNS CAREFULLY BEFORE DECIDING WHICH INN TO ENTER - ENTERING ONE INN INSTANTLY DESTROYS THE OTHER TWO INNS! One inn contains neutral heroes, one contains undead heroes and one contains archon heroes, so choose wisely for the sake of your stack morale!
This map offers a wealth of tactical options for killing off your human opponents, and it is set up so that you can play any race from any location. Some raiding indies have path of frost, path of decay or path of life, so if you don't want them ruining your crop income I suggest that you kill them off quite quickly.
Essentially you have 3 domains on the surface which all lead out to a central island, and that island is packed with towns. So one obvious way of winning is to take control of the central island, then go across into your opponents' territories.
If you want to sit at home for hours just building outposts, you will find a diggable section in the caverns near your capital, as well as a large expanse of available land in the shadow world, both of which are ideal for building outposts on. Personally I enjoy playing against a more aggressive style of player, but each to their own - this map tries to cater for all tastes.
Should you wish to go directly from your territory into your neghbour's this will be quite difficult, as there are mountains in the way, but if you can find a unit such as a steam wagon or an air galley to transport you over the mountains, you might be able to surprise your opponent.
Alternatively all capitals have water leading right up to them, meaning that all capitals can build a shipyard, and attacks by sea are feasible.
If you prefer to use the underground route you will need to take a tunneling unit of some sort with you, as every capital has a cave entrance nearby, but it's protected by an earth barrier.
Should you choose the shadow world for launching an attack on your enemies, you might find that you have a bit of a problem. That's because none of the shadow portals will actually take you to your enemy!
Good luck, have fun, and don't forget to email me with any constructive suggestions you might have for improving the map (rogerforward at hotmail dot com)
Here's a story, although I accept that most online players couldn't care less about a story, all they want is to get out there and kill off their opponents!
The elves appeared to be splitting up into more and more sub-sections, and as they did so their power over the shire was inevitably dwindling. In the olden days the elves were totally in control of everything that happened anywhere in this shire, but then there started to be differences of opinion over what was the best way forward for the future.
Probably the initial catalyst for all this turmoil had been the arrival of the humans in the shire. They came searching for work, for gold, for a place to live and a place to raise their children. Their ways were very different to those of the elves. The elves loved the land and the plants and the creatures, and wanted things to continue the way they had for eons. Humans cared nothing for the land or the plants or the creatures, they laid everything to waste in their search for food and gold and water, and they didn't care which species they pushed abruptly towards extinction. What is more, they didn't actually believe in elves, either.
You might have thought that this would bring the elves more closely together, having this unwanted invasion of their homelands. However, an unfortunate coincidence of strong personalities, an ensuing power struggle and a lot of misinformation intended to promote the ends of those strong characters, actually had the opposite effect of what would actually have been in the best interests of the elves. By splitting into factions, they actually made themselves weaker, and gave the humans a bigger opportunity to take control of the shire.
Initially Serena was in charge of all the elves in the shire, a very fair and moderate leader who was respected by all sides, but this was before the humans started arriving in ever larger numbers.
A group of elves that were somewhat more arrogant and self-opinionated started to make political sounds, and a youngster called Merkraad seemed to have voted himself in as their head spokesperson. They called themselves Archons, but essentially they were High Elves, and were all for forcibly removing the humans from the shire.
Serena was appalled at the suggestion of violence, pointing out that elves are supposed to be the most pure of all creatures in the shire, and begging them to find other ways of resolving the conflict, stressing that violence should only be used as a very last resort if all other means have failed.
Merkraad insisted that they could not achieve their aims living in the forests, and that they needed to build walled towns, with braziers and barracks and workshops, in order to counter the advanced armaments of the humans.
Clearly this was total anathema to the Wood Elves, lead by the ranger Legova, who swore that neither him nor his friends would ever give up the woods and live in a town, regardless of how big a hold humanity had on their shire.
Yet another faction was that lead by Violet Lev, who stated that the best way to rid the shire of humans was through the study and implementation of magic, using mystical spells and the calling forth of lightning upon all humanity, until they turned tail and fled from the shire in fear. Sunstrider and his friends were of the belief that the existing magic was not strong enough to rid the shire of humans, and formed another organisation, calling themselves The Association of Blood Elves.
So Merkraad went off with his henchmen and they founded their own town, Legova went off into the woods with his cronies, Violet Lev went off with his associates to practise their magic, and the Blood Elves went off to learn new magic. However they quickly discovered that divided they were much weaker, and that humans were taking control of more and more of the shire.
Eventually Serena called them all together to discuss where their future belonged, or in fact whether they actually had any future in this shire. It was quite clear that there could never be a complete reunion, as there were too many deep divisions in their beliefs, but they managed to bring it down from five factions to just two. One faction would henceforth be called The Yellow Alliance, containing the high elves and archons and a few wood elves that were willing to try city life, whilst the blood elves and dark elves formed The Purple Alliance. Whether these two factions would be strong enough to rid the shire of humans remained to be seen
For those that are interested in balance, or the unashamedly pedantic, here is my list of resources for each player:
A choice of neutral, archon or undead heroes near capital
5 easy to reach towns on the surface, and one further away
Easy to reach town in the caverns, and one further away
Diggable earth area in caverns for outpost building
Shadow world area for outpost building
Razed supermine by capital
4 spirit quests (with defenders) near cap
4 spirit quests (with defenders) in caverns
Production resources
Camp site
2 farms
4 random mana, 3 random gold
Dragon peak
Water mill
Guarded healing house
Dungeon near capital
2 random nodes with random defenders in caverns
3 random nodes with random item and strong defenders on
surface, plus a healing house
Random node with random defenders on surface
One "evil" recruitment structure
One "good" recruitment structure
"Shipyard"
Shipwreck |
