Underworld

[Strongwill]

Wook, I can almost get a top three finish every time with UN, if left alone to build. They would be devastating if allowed to correspond secretly with other kingdoms for service..

[Maximus Dominus]

Back in third cycle and maybe more recently the Underworld was described as a kingdom that was not recommended for new players.
It may be the single most difficult kingdom to play.

And why, exactly, do you think that it's the single most difficult kingdom to play?

Once you get comfortable with more "normal" kingdoms the U.N. is lots of fun.  They rarely win but creating havoc can be a blast

Well, not knowing what the more "normal" kingdoms are (is there a list of them, somewhere, along with explanations as to why they are more "normal" than the other, perhaps more "abnormal," kingdoms?), I don 't tend to think in terms of normal or not, where kingdom selection fro Alamaze is concerned.

Also, a long time ago, back when I won Hyborian War game number HW-165, I learned well that playing to win is an exceedingly poor substitute for playing to have fun. Winning can be quite the anti-climactic experience. That is the mindset that I bring to playing Alamaze. Honestly, I really couldn't care less about winning.

If fun isn't what drives players to play, and to continue to play, Alamaze, then Alamaze has a real problem. Fun is what sustains a game's longevity.

[Wookie Panz]

Back in third cycle and maybe more recently the Underworld was described as a kingdom that was not recommended for new players.
It may be the single most difficult kingdom to play.

And why, exactly, do you think that it's the single most difficult kingdom to play?

Once you get comfortable with more "normal" kingdoms the U.N. is lots of fun.  They rarely win but creating havoc can be a blast

Well, not knowing what the more "normal" kingdoms are (is there a list of them, somewhere, along with explanations as to why they are more "normal" than the other, perhaps more "abnormal," kingdoms?), I don 't tend to think in terms of normal or not, where kingdom selection fro Alamaze is concerned.

Also, a long time ago, back when I won Hyborian War game number HW-165, I learned well that playing to win is an exceedingly poor substitute for playing to have fun. Winning can be quite the anti-climactic experience. That is the mindset that I bring to playing Alamaze. Honestly, I really couldn't care less about winning.

If fun isn't what drives players to play, and to continue to play, Alamaze, then Alamaze has a real problem. Fun is what sustains a game's longevity.

It's ironic, Max, that you have chosen another speciality kingdom in another game.  I refer to the Demon Princes.  Both D. E. and U.N. have a lot of things that are unique to them and it adds quite a bit of complexity to playing those kingdoms.
A great well rounded kingdom to start with, in my opinion is the Rangers.  They have a nice balanced mix of everything.

[Maximus Dominus]

It's ironic, Max, that you have chosen another speciality kingdom in another game.  I refer to the Demon Princes.  Both D. E. and U.N. have a lot of things that are unique to them and it adds quite a bit of complexity to playing those kingdoms.
A great well rounded kingdom to start with, in my opinion is the Rangers.  They have a nice balanced mix of everything.

I don't choose "specialty kingdoms," deliberately. In fact, I don't even know what specialty kingdoms are.

The Underworld seemed to be an agent-oriented kingdom, so I picked it for that reason. Understand, though, that my approach to trying to teach myself how to play Alamaze gravitates around trying to better understand how to use characters effectively, and then later on in other games, I will begin focusing more upon trying to better understand the whole combat side of the equation, with troops and leaders. Since I'm not really playing to try and win, but rather, to try and learn, a nice balanced mix of everything isn't really a necessaity for me, at this stage of myAlamaze journey, Wookie Panz. I do appreciate your feedback, though.

[Maximus Dominus]

Oh, and my selection of the demon princes to play in an upcoming game, I chose that kingdom because they sounded very colorful. I'm still too inexperienced to play the Demon Princes effectively, but it will give me a chance to gain a little familiarity with the kingdom.

[Maximus Dominus]

I'm currently playing the Underworld kingdom in two different games of Alamaze.

One word of advice that I have for newcomers who are thinking about playing the Underworld is that high level agents are VERY GOOD at carrying out assassinations and kidnappings, but simultaneously, even high level agents are fairly vulnerable to enemy activity directed against your characters.

Failure on missions for agents and fanatics is not a rare thing, and agents can lose multiple levels of experience, when failure rears its head, not to mention death can sometimes be the reward for failure by Underworld agents.

In one of my Underworld games, I have two other kingdoms systematically ripping away control of my population centers, or razing them to the ground. It's actually a slower process than I would have imagined, so even if you find your Underworld kingdom in jeopardy of being overrun and militarily conquered, you can still have some fun with your agents carrying out various missions. I've lost count of how many characters that I have assassinated, already.

Carrying out recon missions, even with Level 20+ agents, is not without risk, depending upon what your target is for performing recon missions on. If you have a lot of agents, though, even losing high ranking agents is something that you can take in stride. In war, there are going to be losses on all sides.

Rapid training of Underworld agents is fun - but it's actually only a two level advantage that you gain over other kingdoms in advancing your agents, not four levels. Don't deceive yourself into thinking otherwise. Stay focused. Underworld agents should probably have the ability to rapid train to levels higher than four, but with a noticeable sized random chance of failure. My line of thinking is, how do you make the Underworld more fun? The real fun isn't in hiring lower level agents at lower cost. A lot of the building up for forces and assets over time is little more than tedium. Even fairly decent level agents face considerable risk with certain missions.

Always keep raising the levels of at least a few of your agents, each turn, every turn. If you get sidetracked with other things happening in the game, and then you lose a few of your high level agents mid-game, you may well end up staring into the face of being the Underworld with the reputation for having really capable agents, without the actual high level agents to back that reputation up.

[Ruingurth]

Why does the UN get a 5th group?

R

[uncledarkseid]

Advice for Underworld Players:

By using the #500 - Train to Higher Lever Order, your starting Level 6 agent can be raised to Level 9 by the end of Turn #3.

However, if you do not already have both a Bazaar (build it first) and a Thieves Guild (build it second) in the same pop center that your agent is located in, you will not be able to train your highest level agent above Level 9.

This information is not contained in the UN5684Setup.html file that you receive, when the game starts. By being aware of what's needed to raise your agents higher than Level 9, you can avoid a minimum two turn delay in training agents that reach Level 9 via the #500 order.

REMEMBER: That only one building may be constructed for a given population center in a given turn, per order #611 – Construct Building. So, you can't build a Bazaar and a Thieves Guild in the same pop center on the exact same turn.

NOTE: Of course, there is the issue to consider of whether you will have sufficient gold available to build both the Bazaar and the Thieves Guild, depending upon what other orders that you issue the first several turns. You will have to decide what your kingdom's actual priorities are.

You also have the option of taking the bazaar in kingdom setup and then turn 3->4 build the thieves guild.
I'm a huge fan of agents. Its maybe also a thought th eUN starts with a thieves guild something I need to consider...

It’s just plain silly that they don’t start w one.  
All of the prerequisites for buildings and fortifications should be reviewed.  
For example, why build a forum at your cap just so you can build a forge?  Just make the forge cost more, or not available til turn 4. 
Why does stormgate start with a castle and not a fortress.  That eliminates the ability to build a castle, robbing it (a typical focal point of end game strategy) the chance to have another 15k defense added.