Anyone got any advice on nation set ups in the fourth age variant? I’ve played a decent amount of 1650, a couple of 2950 and even a BOFA but have yet to taste the delights of 1000FA, don’t want to simply wade in and make a complete horlicks of it.
Lewis:D
Since a lot of 50 / 60 starting emissaries are running about in FA the camp limit is reached much sooner, so don’t rely on lowly emmys to grow your nation as you can in 1650 or 2950 games.
Paul
location is important for all nations, but not all nations want a remote capital. If you’re playing a military nation, you want access to the front, via proximity or a road.
Have at least one E50. Your camps start at that loyalty.
Have at least one Comm at 40 or above and preferably two. If you have only one, give the army to someone else, so he can recruit while the big Comm raises taxes and downgrades.
The C60 Dwarves option is fun, and for that, the Hire for Free is an outstanding SNA. Threaten in the backfield.
Pick Victory condition #6 to know one arty number.
spend all your allocated money (8K) for starting pc’s (choose more camps or build forts/towers), and all your money allocated for SNA’s (20K --use any leftover for artifacts or warmachines). They’re bargains.
The only place you might choose not to spend all your allocated money is for armies. It’s a tradeoff: 100 troops start with 6K food, 200 with 3K, 300 with 1500, etc. They start with good equipment, so you can make a case for having more (like LC), but the extra food makes it easy to recruit and move out. Up to you.
Plan your key T1/T2 orders while doing your setup!
You know that the pc limit hits early, so there’s no point in naming an E30 on T3. You need all your emmys quickly.
You also probably want to get taxes up on T1 or T2, so you don’t want your starting army with your best Comm if you have only one strong one, etc.
excellent advice from Dan, there is just a little to add:
as you can see, there are many options to explore, have fun!
Hi,
haven’t played 4 age before, but planning to do so in the not too distant future, as far as I get it it’s the same map as 1650, with the capitals of the two kingdoms in fixed positions, all other pops can be located freely (within the rules for position)?
Claus
Originally posted by ClausBrandtJakobsen
it’s the same map as 1650, with the capitals of the two kingdoms in fixed positions, all other pops can be located freely (within the rules for position)?
Claus
Sort of. In addition to the kingdom capitals, there are several other kingdom pop centers that are in fixed positions.
There are also two hexes that are off limits to starting pop centers (not sure why).
Another thing to keep in mind is that Mordor, and the southern hills tend to be crowded, so if you plan to start there, be ready for some early action.
Jeff
Hi Lewis,
I wrote a long article for Bree on 4th age setups. It was in Bree 21.
I’ve attached a copy to this post.
It would be interesting to keep statistics on FA winners such as what SNA’s they took, their allegiance, and starting location…
cheers,
Adam
An odd thing about Create Camp is that it isn’t as dependant on rank as you might think. In 1650 and 2950 there appears to be a limit to the number of camps that can be created per turn. In that scenario, many emissaries fail simply because the allowed number of camps were placed before they even got a turn.
In FA, this per turn limit seems not to exist. In my experience, E40s do as well at creating camps as E60s (except starting loyalty obviously).
Don’t be fooled by the “only 1 nation can take +20 K/A” into thinking there won’t be a TON of agents killing early and often. The DS can start with many 60As. Those guys will be out killing up a storm from GT3 on. With name As at 40, stealth, and 2X scoChar available to many nations, 4th age IS an agent game.
The typical strategy is to pile on one nation and kill as many charatcers as possible. Few are willing to pay $6+ a turn to pay a nation with 2 or 3 characters, so they quit.
Mages are useless. Hire for free is good, but only if the enemy doesn’t pick you as “the nation” to take out through concentrated agent action or have their 10 70+ emissaries visit your capital in connection with their agents.
I won’t play another basic FA game, even LAS. Just way too many agents and emissaries for my taste. NKA was okay, but I’m looking to organize a modified NKA with suicide assassins (must retire after sucessful kill) and no challenge refusal off your pops(to give you a defense against emissaries).
If you’re looking for an agent and emissary game, go for a 4th age game. If you like to do things other than asassinate and InfOthr, than you may want to stay in third age.
Mages are quite useful in 4th Age. Espesially given that you can get weakness via the SNAs. Just ask the DS in game 43 about the Free weakness squads.
Originally posted by Øystein
Mages are quite useful in 4th Age. Espesially given that you can get weakness via the SNAs. Just ask the DS in game 43 about the Free weakness squads.
If my enemy wants to have 5, 60-rank mages tied up killing one character a turn, GREAT! I’ll have 5, 60+ rank agents killing 3-5 characters a turn. Name agents at 40, then steal gold 4-5 turns, then start assassinating. Mush more effectave than NamMage 40, prent 8 turns, repeat 4 more times, then start killing.
A lot of players think mages are completely useless in 4th age but I disagree.
One huge use is for conjuring mounts. Running HC from turn 1 is more useful in my opinion than hiring for free.
I also believe they’re useful for picking up artifacts. If you start as FP or DS, you’ll likely have a number of decent artifacts identified for you from victory conditions at game start. Picking up even a few useful artifacts can make a huge difference. For example, a single 1500 point weapon can insure that your big army commander always has challenge advantage. You can’t go right out and find the RoW on turn 1 sure, but 2 mages working on artifacts for 10 turns will net you a fistful of very useful tools.
Thirdly, FA games tend to run 20+ turns. As the agent game heats up, mages are very useful for tracking those infamous enemy agents via locate character true.
Fourthly, mages are the only characters that will recieve information on all a nations major towns when using a palantir.
Fifthly, mages are easilly the characters most likely to end up with the highest challenge rank from picking up artifacts and weapons. And it’s always nice to know you’ve got the biggest kid on the block in your company or army.
Overall though, mages are much less important than in 1650 where the artifact hunt is so competitive and important. One thing I wish Bill Field hadn’t done in FA was randomize the artifact special powers. I’ve never yet seen a player find, pick up, and put to use a curses artifact.
As for a weakness squad, they can have their uses, but only if coordinated with agents. A decent agent company will tear a weakness squad apart if unescorted.
cheers,
Adam