A few 4th age questions for those players more familiar with this scenario:
What role do dragons play in 4th Age? If they do appear is it in a reduced role from prior scanarios? Are they recruitable?
The encounters list found on Bobbins, etc. is undoubtedly changed in 4th Age. Are there new encounters and do the encounters that appear in prior scenarios have varying results? I assume Gandalf will not appear nor will Sauron.
Do the pop center locations from the earlier scenarios play any role in terms of ruins, etc. ?. If a pop center is built upon a hex where a previous pop center stood is there any benefit?
Is the artifact list indeed randomized as I’ve heard? Do the side benefits of an artifact (access to lost lists, bonus vs. certain creature types, etc.) change in 4th age? Have any alignments changed for artifacts ?
4th age seems more similar to 2950 than 1650 in terms of game play. Do you recommend a quick build to armies or is there time to get the lay of the land before the wolves are upon you? Much of this must depend on nation placement and geography, I’m sure.
What is the genereal etiquette as far as ‘Fog of War’ issues? Do nations of a given allegiance (save neutral) form the common Yahoo! groups site for sharing PDFs or are details and plans generally kept close to the vest?
Any advice you can give is appreciated and thanks in advance for your reply.
Artifacts: They are indeed randomized. Unsure about the secondary effects on them.
‘Etiquette’: Wholy depends on your playing style. If you don’t want to cooperate, thats your choice, if you do, the 4th Age games I’ve been in we’ve used the Yahoo groups to coordinate.
Setup: Depends alot on where you start, who your neighbours are etc. In my last 4th Age game I setup as an agent nation, only to discover a DS right next to me, and had to shift to military.
There are no dragons in FA. Or if there are I’ve never seen them, and certainly never seen one recruited into an army. Having said that, there are Balrogs, Ents, Eagles, Hobbits, and other of our friends still wandering around. I’ve never had to fight any attached to an army, but I think you can still get army encounters with them. Some entities, such as Sauron, no longer exist, but others, like Shelob still stalk the land.
Some popcenter locations from previous ages can give beneficial encounters depending on allegiance. They can also smack you down. Some players have lists of these locations, but I’ve never seen one published publicly. The majority are famous 1650 or 2950 popcenters though so they should be findable.
Artifact numbers and special abilities are randomized. Alignment is not. There is also a degree of variation. For example a 10 point command artifact may show up as a 15 pointer. Personally, I’ve never seen a curses artifact revealed. And besides those starting weaknesses groups, I’ve never seen a curses group in FA. I’m curious if anyone else has. I’m not convinced that access to weakness exists as an artifact special ability in FA – though I’d love to be proved wrong.
It’s easy to become FA roadkill if you’re not prepared for quick military action. You’re right that much depends on your location and neighbors, but every nation design should be able to respond to 1 or 2 enemies as immediate neighbors. Fortifications are a huge factor for survivability – Clint has acknowledged this by putting forts on all the starting capitals in the new rules being tested in FA 144 and the upcoming FA 145. I personally also feel that a capital in the mountains is a huge defensive boon. Just be advised that some players plan for the blitz by taking war machines, artifacts, conjure mounts, hire for free, and other such SNA’s fully intending to quickly overwhelm less prepared neighbors. Don’t get caught unprepared.
“Etiquette” is an open issue. I’ve seen it all over the board. My belief is the majority of FP/DS players want and expect team play along allegiance lines. A minority however really feel FA is a free for all and may be uncooperative or even hostile. Neutrals may form their own team, and often are aggressive about playing FP and DS off against each other before jumping them. I’ve seen cross allegiance alliances in 3 FA games, so these definitely do happen. Remember that unlike 1650, in FA members of the same allegiance can actually downgraded each other to disliked and attack each other militarilly. I would say that this is however very rare, and more likely you’ll just find uncommunicative teammates the worst ailment. Every winning team I’ve seen was highly organized, shared PDF’s, planned market manipulations, etc… So in that regard it’s very similar to 1650 – the better organized team will win. Just be prepared to see a difference of opinion amongst your allegiance, don’t make the assumption that everyone wants to be your buddy, and try to work with those who are interested in coordination.
If you’re thinking about playing FA I’d highly recommend it. If you’re worried about getting up to speed, pick a neutral nation which should give you a bit more breathing room and your choice of allies. Worst case scenario, you quickly pump your MT/F’s up to City/Forts at which point you’ll be able to withstand a lot of punishment from any enemies you may face.
BTW, FA 145 is filling up, and the new rules look great. Especially for FA first timers since they diminish agent ability and increase starting fortifications.
Oops, I guess I missed his question number 6: “What’s the stupidest, most embarassing, wooden-headed rookie move I shouldn’t make right out the gate.”
Followed by #7, “If I really want to play a nation with it’s capital in the swamp should I go ahead, or take 48 hours to sober up first before submitting my nation design sheet.”
I’ve submitted my setup for Game 144 and am jazzed to give 4th Age a go. I’ve been through several games of 1650 and 2950 and am interested to see how I can put those concepts to use in a 4th Age format.
The Tolkien purist in me is a bit bothered at putting an overlay on the Middle earth Map. If I were a DS player and decieded that I wanted my group of rutty goblins based where Imladris stood (stands?) or soiling Lorien I could do so id my region choices were approved. Or I could set a group of Silvan Elves deep in the mountains of The Northern wastes or Angmar.
So be it though. One issue I found problematic in setup was having to list multiple locations separated by distance for my pop centers. It makes retaining what you hope is the original flavor of your nation idea quite difficult.
That’s the purist in me however. As a pure strategy game I’m sure 4th Age will work quite well.
I am quite happy to hear that dragons have no part in 4th Age. As encounters they are fine (although a bit too common for my tastes) but attached to armies dragons strike me as quite cheesy.
Thanks for your comments. I hope to see you as friend or foe (or a potential of both if you go neutral…) on the fields of battle in Game 144.
