Recommended turn order based on play times:

Thanks AIXStormrage, I needed motivation to look at the Westeros map again.  I squashed the known bugs and posted a new version (3.4) up on Steam.

@ Hiliadan : "Balancing or removing the Empire quests" or something similar was just not an option of the poll, so there was no way to give our opinion regarding this direction (or any other direction not already listed in the poll choices).

A new article has been published to summarize the best mods for AoW3, have a look at it!
Best mods for AoW3 and other poll results (best class, worst starting class)
The article links to a new video published to present the balance mod, I spent a lot of efforts doing it, it's much better than the previous videos I released, so I hope you'll enjoy it:



Feel free to like it and comment it!

ANNOUNCEMENT: please note that there has been a change to the way team messages work on game blogs on the Battlefield. To avoid people wrongly sending key strategic intel to their enemies, the box "Viewable only for team members" is now checked by default for all team games! So if you want to post information for everyone, please uncheck it! You'll see if a message is sent only to your allies or to everyone by its background color: team messages are very visible in light yellow background.

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@Imperium: I kind of agree with xlnt but I also feel some EQ just help the winner to win even more and they should certainly be improved or some could be removed. However, nobody raised that topic when I asked for balance direction for the poll What direction should the Balance Mod take in the coming months? so I'm afraid we'll have to wait before tackling this topic!

@AlX: yes I'm interested to play a Westeros game! However, I'll have to wait probably about 4 months before being able to start one as I limit my number of active games.

Hiho,

I've just remembered that there was a long break in the Westeros map games

Anyone would be interested in playing one more round?

Krec joined !!

totaly against - the gain is nice but not gamebreaking and a game should not only be fair - it should give you different ways to find the path to victory - for everything else there is chess. So while one goes for 1 quest - the other will go for the next quest OR other way to gain an advantage. Evil quest is the easiest of all and that gives you 3 units. I would like us to balance this - the rest are so late game that they have like no (major) impact in my opinion (which is just that - some guy's opinion).

Has it been considered to disable the Empire Quests for the PBEM games ?

It looks like the pursuit of some of these quests is a strategy, but it feels quite unfair to me that a player can gain a significant advantage over his adversary just because he could finish an empire quest one turn before. Any thoughts on that topic ?

2 games are currently open:
- Empire Building Mods 3v3 a team game opened by SeeR, with several mods enriching the game (especially the Empire Building one)
- I think the Elysian FFA game still need 1 player to be full: https://www.the-battlefield.com/aow3/index.php?page=actgames&actid=512#actgamesdetails1 One of the original player hasn't joined. Post on their game blog if interested, it's a 4 players FFA

A new poll was launched. It is very important for the future of the balance mod so please all take 1 minute to vote, by choosing all the items you think deserve attention from the mod: What direction should the Balance Mod take in the coming months?

I'm also happy to announce I compiled some of the advice given by cbower (and marcuspers) in his Academy game in a guide in the Wiki: http://age-of-wonders-3.wikia... />It deals with strategy and tactics in AoW3 and I'll update it with more info, illustrative videos, etc. as more info become available. It'd be nice if more true Academy games were launched, with similar broad tips given to all the participants of the Academy game. I myself plan to launch one but that won't be before several months.

For the Elysian FFA: I am no match to the others, so I would only distort if I joined. Have fun though! (:

For your information, the beta branch of the balance mod will be updated soon (this week end if all goes well) with v1.21 of the balance mod:
General
T4 all have Mind Control Immunity
Dungeon's battle enchantment is Suffocating Sadism. Every turn, one enemy unit is hit by 15 physical damage, Undead, Machine, Elemental and Incorporeal are immune. Every time an enemy dies, all defenders of the Dungeon get +100 Morale and +1 melee strength.
Healing is once per battle (was cooldown 3). Shamans (on Elite) and Evangelists get Combat Healing in addition to their Healing ability. Combat Healing starts fights with an initial 4 turns cooldown, it heal 20 HP and it can be used once per battle. Combat Healing has no effect on the strategic map (but Healing still works on the strategic map). Order of Healing gives Healing and Combat Healing to Theocrat's Supports
Transform Mana Node can target any Mana Node (was can target only basic - i.e. non elemental - Mana Node)
Rogue
Lesser Charm and Charm have strength 6 (was 7) and 8 (was 9) respectively
Theocrat
Lesser Convert and Convert have strength 8 (was 9) and 10 (was 11) respectively
Frostling
Frostling Apprentices, Shamans and Evangelists are female (were male) and can thus be protected by Frostling Royal Guards
Partisan
Guerilla Tactics apply to all units (was only Infantry and Irregular)
Hide Out is renamed Cloaked in Shadows and gives: all units in target friendly army gain Invisibility until end of turn (was All friendly units in enchanted city's domain are invisible). Cloaked in Shadow costs 60 CP, 120 RP and is tier II.
War Anthem costs 20 CP to cast (was 30 CP). If it fails, the unit suffer -100 morale instead (was no effect if it failed).
Earth
Domain of Earth gives +1 defense to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.
Slow costs 9 CP and 300 RP (was 10 CP and 350 RP).
City Quake costs 90 CP (was 100 CP)
Air
Domain of Winter gives +1 ranged damage to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.
Artic Empire gives Inflict Chilling and Inflict Frostbite to units in your domain.
Air Master gets Heavy Winds instead of Wind Ward. Heavy Winds is a strategic spell which gives -2 vision range to all Flying enemy units (on the strategic map) and prevent them from Flying in tactical combat. It costs 800 RP and 150 CP, is tier V, its disjunction cost is 170 CP and its upkeep 60 mana/turn.
Fire
Domain of the Sun gives +1 fire damage to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.
Creation
Domain of Life gives Fast Healing (stackable) and +20% Spirit protection to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.
Destruction
Domain of Corruption gives +1 Blight damage to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.
Blight Empire gives Inflict Curse to allied units in your domain.
Wild Magic
Pandemonium gives two 60% weakness to two random damage channels to hostile units (was one 100% weakness) (other effects of Pandemonium are unchanged)


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There is less than 1 week left to vote on the latest poll: What classes of hero do you generally refuse if they are proposed on turn 1? (because they are the worst heroes to start with) so please have a look at it and vote if you haven't yet.

Hi all. There are 2 spots which have been unoccupied for at least a week now in this standard FFA game hosted by Elysian.

Darkrider have shown interest but has not joined in game.

Both settings and password for the game can be found on the game blog here, so feel free to join. I guess Elysian agrees with me...

It's too late  :'( 

If you know only the balance mod, then vote for it if you like it, it's pretty simple. The more votes we get for the balance mod, the better!

I just published a piece of news: Properly introducing the Shadow Elves, the new race of the Shadow Realm community-made expansion
After having a look at it, for those interested, I'd be happy to hear your impressions on the chat: https://www.the-battlefield.c... I'd especially like to discuss one unit on the Shadow Elves line-up because we disagree in the design team and I'd like to hear more opinions.

I'm surprised we don't have more duel practice games organized with the Duel Tournament starting today?
Zaskow is releasing v1.2 on the main branch of the balance mod today. You can check the changelog here: https://docs.google.com/docum... />

About second poll at your last message here - how can I vote in this poll if I tried to play only PBEM balance mods and not any other mods?

Hello everyone!
There is still one slot free on the 4 players FFA organized by Elysian. You can post in their game blog to get the slot: https://www.the-battlefield.c... />
We are also looking for 3 players or more to replace inactive players in the 2017 Duel Tournament. Please express your interest by sending a PM to me, or posting here, or posting in the Tournament Player Pool: https://www.the-battlefield.c... />Check the details about the tournament here: https://www.the-battlefield.c... />
For those who haven't voted yet, please check the latest 2 polls:
What classes of hero do you generally refuse if they are proposed on turn 1? (because they are the worst heroes to start with)
What are the best mods according to you?

@Eskild, yeah, I'd try myself with that game

EXECNOIR joined !!

Hi all. Seems like "Elysian" have problems joining the Modded FFA game I created sometime ago or merely forgot joining. Please report in here if you are interested in the spot.

We're still looking for one more player to replace another who can't play. Just comment the match and I'll add you in:

https://www.the-battlefield.com/aow3/index.php?page=bfmgames&listid=512 

Hey guys, I created a 4-player FFA. Feel free to join

https://www.the-battlefield.com/aow3/index.php?page=bfmgames&listid=512