Quoting Blaze of Glory,
reply 24
2) There is a BIG learning curve. Those who were in beta at least get a feel for the dynamics, but it is still tough at times. Newbies have no tutorial and the game is certainly not a typical game. So they have no idea of how cities build, grow, what techs do etc.
I didn't participate in beta, and didn't read manual, figuring the game by trial and error (and I love to do so. Manuals are spoilers and should be forbidden).
The only thing I DID read before playing is that squads are uber-powerful, and this indeed the only thing you need to know now. Get to 9x stacks and you are unstoppable. Single 9x unit with lord hammers gives 1000 CR, which is usually far more than ANY AI has for whole army in 1-300 turns range.
Well, in this day and age, your wish for manuals to be forbidden has long been true. Long gone are the days of 100+ pages of detailed units, techs, core mechanics. Personally, I have always hated a game with less than 50 pages because it must be so simple a caveman could play it. While I understand to keep costs down they cannot do that as much anymore, at least give a solid pdf.
That said, congrats on your DIY attitude! However, it seems to me, you bring up a valid criticism of the game. It you use the exploit of rushing large stacks, you don't have to look at any subtleties of the game. To me, that looks almost like a cheat. The game does have exploitable flaws. I am not talking about those, I am talking about new users trying to play a game in a non-rush/crush manner. Role playing for a lack of a better term now.
The AI obviously has numerous issues. I feel most newbies are just trying to figure out the core building, exploring, magic dynamic. Once Brad hopefully plugs the "rush" strategy, the tactic you put forth will no longer apply. Conversely, you might play MP and that will certainly not work. Then you might wish you had a manual.
