Recommended turn order based on play times:

hatifnat quitted!

A new edition of the Stronghelm Globe, the fan-made journal for AoW3 (by Fluksen, Draxynnic, Raesh, BBB), has been published: run to read it! An interview of Petracke, the New Arsenal mod, war diaries, lore explanation... a lot of good content!

2 games opened:
- 1v1v1 (open, newbies preferred): 2 players are expected for a game with standard settings, balance mod main branch, SDNR, good opportunity for less experienced players, but veterans welcome too
- phirp & lightform vs....??: phirpo and Lightform team up for a 2vs2. DreadReapr joined and is waiting for a team mate. Almost standard settings.

I just opened a three-for-all PBEM match, open for all but especially for other newbies out there.

Cheers!

raphaell joined !!

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== Open games ==
- Loki opened a 2vs2 to train for the Team Tournament: 2v2 Ranked Game!

We have several new players who joined recently, and the number of new games has been quite limited, so it's time to open new games!! Games / Create Game, or direct link: https://www.the-battlefield.c... />
== Poll ==
The poll on AoW: PF is closing in 4 days: What do you think about AoWlanetfall?

== Articles ==
Check out the last 3 articles published:
- Interview of Jean de Metz & Melciar - 3rd of the 2016 2vs2 PBEM Tournament (part 1)
- Shadow Realm Community Expansion: closed beta launched!
- PBEM and Single Player Balance Mod v1.24 released: bug fixes and more useful Dwelling units

== Videos ==
The full 35 turns of AoW3 2017 PBEM Duel Tourney – Round 8: Hiliadan (Tigran Warlord) vs Marcuspers (Human Arch Druid)have been uploaded on my side, see the playlist.

llldarkhorselll joined !!

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For all those of you interested in new Triump project, have a look at this :
https://www.aow-planetfall.com

3 games are open:
- Last Supper - 1v1 Blackwill is playing Theocrat and looking for a Necromancer opponent, to see if Necro is indeed advantaged in that match-up
- Cross of Lorraine - 1v1 same as Last Supper but the roles are reversed and Blackwill is looking for a Theocrat to try to beat his Necro
- 4x2 formal teams I hosted a 2vs2vs2vs2 and will be playing with Gladis as my team mate. We're looking for players who are members of registered teams and thus know each other well and have already played together, as we are hoping for a game with strong team play and a challenging match! My last 4x2 was one of my best match so really looking forward to this one! The match will start in a few months but is opened to give people time to build teams and join.


== Poll ==
An important poll is open to choose the format of next tournament (1vs1, 2vs2, 4vs4), please vote if you haven't yet, 17 people already voted so far! Registrations for this new tournament will open around June/July.
Please join the 2018 PBEM Tournament Player Pool to get info about that tournament (if you're not already in that pool)!

== Tactical challenge ==
The January 2018 Tactical Challenge is still open! Check out the details on the post on the forum. I'm available on the chat to help people who want to try to beat Imanuit!
The players who beat level 1 so far:
LEVEL 1 (all class/race/specs/Dwellings allowed, 1000 gold, 500 mana, 4500 RP)
#1 – Blackwill357 (+ video of how he completed level 2)
#2 – Marcuspers
#3 – gabthegab
#4 – Hiliadan (Nightshade Fairy army, together with an Air Elemental)

#5 – Fluksen (Dwarf Dreadnought with 4 Cannons and units dealing Fire-damage)

#6 – Ezekiel

Hosted a 6 player FFA. Here it is. Some mods will be used - balance mod for sure and what we decide for. Of course please be dedicated if you join in.

Nub nub quitted!

Not sure whether Earl wants to join another game

DreadReapr is waiting for an opponent on is Duel #3 match.

I also heard that EarL is looking for a big game and I'm sure others are too so if someone wants to host a game on a Large map, he should find players to join it!

== Balance ==
v1.24 has been released on the beta branch. Check out the changelog at the usual place: https://docs.google.com/docum... />
A change planned for v1.23 "A new setting is available for “Defenders Strength”: “Strong with Normal rewards”: Treasure sites do not give +50% reward value any more" could not be implemented at the time, due to technical difficulties. We now have found a workaround: a new mod has been created: when activated, it reduces reward values so that if you play with Strong Defenders, you have Normal rewards.
This mod is currently in test phase, and we'd be very interested to get people to try it and give feedback. It can be considered part of the balance mod (but cannot be directly included because the setting is specific to Strong Defender; for Very Strong Defenders, we would need another mod for instance).
To try it, please download the .taf here https://www.dropbox.com/s/rj0vray4gmq6qch/multiplier_mod.taf?dl=0 and put it in your C:\Users\[Windows user name]\Documents\My Games\AoW3\UserContent folder, then in the launcher, activate the mod.
Please let Zaskow and me know on the chat if you test the mod!

== Poll ==
There is an ongoing poll: Why haven't you play the new Arena game mode yet?
Remember to vote if you haven't yet.

== Tactical challenge ==
The January 2018 Tactical Challenge is still open! Check out the details on the post on the forum. I'm available on the chat to help people who want to try to beat Imanuit!

== Misc ==
Remember: you can stop receiving email notifications from this Player Pool by either 1/ going on its page https://www.the-battlefield.c... and selecting "I would like to:" "Leave the Pool", or 2/ going into your settings and disabling email notifications: https://www.the-battlefield.c... />
And finally some videos:
The videos of my PBEM Duel Tournament Round 5 match vs Mr. Hawk were fully uploaded, check the playlist:
Hiliadan (Draconian Sorcerer) vs Mr. Hawk (Draconian Sorcerer) (full playlist https://www.youtube.com/playl... />

The videos of Round 6:
Hiliadan (High Elf Necromancer) vs xlnt (Tigran Necromancer) (full playlist https://www.youtube.com/playl... />

Marcuspers uploaded the video of his Round 7 Duel Tournament match in a playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playl... />
Marcuspers (High Elf Necromancer) vs Eskild/Ezekiel (Goblin Warlord)

EarL1893 joined !!

SanTiL quitted!

I think the Winter is Here still has 1 slot open: join to play in the world of Games of Throne season 6 with some very nice players!

A new article has been published to analyse the results of the poll about the best mods for AoW3 that was run in December-January: Best mod of AoW3, as of the end of 2017 Check it out, there are many very good mods in it, you could try them in your next casual games!

The January Tactical Challenge is still open! You will face a dangerous Frostling Sorcerer armed with Chaos Rift and a powerful army: how are you going to beat her? With what troops? Train yourself to analyse your opponent and plays to its weaknesses, and improve your tactical skills in this nice challenge!


Personally I went for the easy solution and took Nightshade Fairies to beat her, and it worked! So will you go for Feys too or try another strategy?



To set up the Arena, you'll probably need 10 to 30min (depending on how well you understand the explanations from Marcus and me ): Arena game mode presentation and set up explanations. Then you'll just need to download the map file in the Tactical-Challenges folder https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ea... and put it in your Map folder. After you have designed your army in your head, it should take you about 30min to build it in the Arena (more if you design it as you go). And then the fight is yours, so 40min to much more depending on your fighting speed!
Good luck and don't hesitate to ask for advice on the chat!

== Balance ==
v1.23 of the balance mod should be updated this week end on the beta branch and in about 10 days on the main branch.