Red Dragon

[Brekk]

Post your advice for playing this kingdom in this thread.

Thank you for contributing to the collective wisdom on how to best play this kingdom in Alamaze!

[Pine Needle]

The Red Dragon is one of the most popular kingdoms to play as its speed, military might and immediate and huge need for food lead to... wait for it... fireworks.

The kingdom has a pretty good record of wins, too, though they are usually early (turn 20 or earlier) as the later game strengths like magic, agents and economy are lacking.

If player diplomacy is involved in the game, the Red can be fun, too, as many kingdoms will give concessions rather than pick an early fight with the Red.

Tactics- use those groups early and often to attack. Feeding dragons who don't fight is a waste. Use patrols to scout your starting and target regions immediately. Recruit phoenix for healing as soon as you can, and the other companion brigades to take damage instead of kingdom brigades. Chasing artifacts is probably a waste of time as those groups need to be scouting and fighting.

[Alzreborn]

Question on Red Dragon military. Do people supplement the flyers with non flyers? I am finding it difficult to get 20+ groups of flyers.

[Strongwill]

Question on Red Dragon military.  Do people supplement the flyers with non flyers?  I am finding it difficult to get 20+ groups of flyers.

RD can only have Great Bats, Wyvern, and Phoenix brigades. All fly

[Brekk]

Question on Red Dragon military.  Do people supplement the flyers with non flyers?  I am finding it difficult to get 20+ groups of flyers.

Looking at some changes to the companion for BL and RD in the update, early next year.

[Ruingurth]

Question on Red Dragon military.  Do people supplement the flyers with non flyers?  I am finding it difficult to get 20+ groups of flyers.

Looking at some changes to the companion for BL and RD in the update, early next year.

Here is an idea.Give the Dragons the summoning list but only the flyers. Gargoyles, and Manticores.

R

[Brekk]

Yep, that's exactly what we are doing

[davekuyk]

The Red Drago is a kingdom that, in my opinion, needs a serious overhaul. Looking at the RD, if one were to graph the kingdom's potential power turn by turn, it would begin rather high (though not the highest), rise to the highest at around turn 12 or so, and then decline quickly, bottoming out soon after turn 25. This is due to the kingdom's one dimensionality - fast, tough troops, but not much else.

Let’s review the aspects of the kingdom:

Troop Quality - Red Dragon kingdom brigades are excellent, among the best...but not THE best. GI troops are better, at least by the numbers on the turn sheet. The NO is nearly as good.

Movement - The RD has the best movement, no argument there. They are typically able to move eight squares, which includes over water. This is a huge strength.

Terrains - The RD is great in all terrains, except the forest, where they struggle. The GI, however, has no bad terrain. The NO also has no terrain with a negative score (one would think the marsh would be bad for the NO).

Masking – No masking for the dragons. Hard to blend into the terrain when you are flying. Somehow giants blend into all terrain types though...

Reinforcements - Red Dragon brigades are rare. Reinforcement schedule is 2,1,2,1. The GI has 2,2,2,2. The NO has 3,3,3,3. In kingdom customization, every kingdom can get an extra kingdom brigade, except the dragons. For ESO awards, the RD (and GI) must pay two points for a kingdom brigade, as opposed to one for other kingdoms.

Troop Cost - RD troops are expensive, even for an evil. Kingdom brigades cost 2625 food and gold. The GI is a bit higher, 3000 each. The NO is a steal – 1100! (Just imagine if the NO was evil too!)

Companions – This is where people tend to focus, and with good reason. Wyverns are middlin,g and Great Bats are mediocre. Phoenix is good of course, with a significant recruiting restriction. An overlooked burden with the Phoenix is that its regeneration ability requires an order. This is unique, as other companions don’t require an order to activate an ability. Trolls and skeletons regenerate on their own, Iron Golem breathes in combat, etc. The end result is that the RD ends up spending three or more standing orders on Phoenix regeneration.

The companions drop off quickly when compared to other kingdoms, such as Hill Giants and Mammoths (fear effect), Trolls (regen and PC bonus), Orcs (numerous and morale bonus), and so on.

The terrain requirements are also restrictive. Kingdoms that can pick up companions from the plains have it so good. Being restricted to mountains or forests is a significant hindrance for the RD.

The dragons also cannot summon any troops, so no minotaurs or specters or iron golems for the dragons.

PC Recruitment – Not allowed. This may be overlooked, but I feel this is a substantial weakness of the RD. Other kingdoms can travel from PC to PC, attacking and recruiting. The RD cannot. If they need more troops, they must veer off and find a mountain or forest square to restock.

Wizards – Very poor wizards, perhaps the worst. Dispel Dome is a key spell for a military kingdom. The NO, DA, and RA all get it at 3. The DW gets it at 4. The Red? 5. Dispel Regional effect and Protection from Regional Effect both come along at 5. The early RD spells are Firestrike, Hidden Ore (which is nice), and True Seeing. A bit ironic that they get True Seeing early when they already get a free level one recon. Also of note, the RD doesn’t get Fertile Fields at all.

Agents - Typical for evil kingdoms. The one bonus is the nine-square range.

Emissaries – As agents, typical with the extended range. The extra range (9 vs 7) is very good, but this is not mentioned on the setup or results, making me wonder if people play the RD and never realize this fact.

Navies – The RD has no ships but can freely fly over the seas, so no loss there, right…? Well, not so fast. With no navie,s the RD cannot take advantage of mercantile orders, nor can they run sea patrols. I believe this tradeoff is fine, especially with the dragon’s lair taking the place of mercantile gold.

Water Capital – For reasons that are not clear (and not mentioned in the rulebook or setup), the RD cannot have a water capital. This is a big deal and can really hurt the RD. A water capital provides some extra protection to a capital, something the RD cannot take advantage of. It is also a boon to enemies of the RD as they don’t need to consider any water PC as a possibility.

So what to do?

My suggestions, keeping in mind current programtic limitations:

• Increase RD reinforcement dramatically, perhaps to 2,3,2,3. This allows them more late game power.
• Move Dispel Dome and Protect Regional Effect to p-3. Move Dispel Regional Effect and Cold Darkness to P-4. Allow p-6 RD wizards to summon Specters.
• Give them Fertile Fields and Conceal Emissary at p-3
• Allow them to have a water capital
• Change the kingdom customization to allow them to choose kingdom brigades as an option
• Add additional flying companions as options – Rocs, Eagles, Griffons, and Cockatrices are all options. Allow one or more to be recruited in the plains. Allow them to recruit up to ten Wyvern.
• Make the Phoenix regeneration automatic
• Give them the Feudal trait to help boost the emissary core and take advantage of the extra movement range

[Alzreborn]

The Red Drago is a kingdom that, in my opinion, needs a serious overhaul. Looking at the RD, if one were to graph the kingdom's potential power turn by turn, it would begin rather high (though not the highest), rise to the highest at around turn 12 or so, and then decline quickly, bottoming out soon after turn 25. This is due to the kingdom's one dimensionality - fast, tough troops, but not much else.

Let’s review the aspects of the kingdom:

Troop Quality - Red Dragon kingdom brigades are excellent, among the best...but not THE best. GI troops are better, at least by the numbers on the turn sheet. The NO is nearly as good.

Movement - The RD has the best movement, no argument there. They are typically able to move eight squares, which includes over water. This is a huge strength.

Terrains - The RD is great in all terrains, except the forest, where they struggle. The GI, however, has no bad terrain. The NO also has no terrain with a negative score (one would think the marsh would be bad for the NO).

Masking – No masking for the dragons. Hard to blend into the terrain when you are flying. Somehow giants blend into all terrain types though...

Reinforcements - Red Dragon brigades are rare. Reinforcement schedule is 2,1,2,1. The GI has 2,2,2,2. The NO has 3,3,3,3. In kingdom customization, every kingdom can get an extra kingdom brigade, except the dragons. For ESO awards, the RD (and GI) must pay two points for a kingdom brigade, as opposed to one for other kingdoms.

Troop Cost - RD troops are expensive, even for an evil. Kingdom brigades cost 2625 food and gold. The GI is a bit higher, 3000 each. The NO is a steal – 1100! (Just imagine if the NO was evil too!)

Companions – This is where people tend to focus, and with good reason. Wyverns are middlin,g and Great Bats are mediocre. Phoenix is good of course, with a significant recruiting restriction. An overlooked burden with the Phoenix is that its regeneration ability requires an order. This is unique, as other companions don’t require an order to activate an ability. Trolls and skeletons regenerate on their own, Iron Golem breathes in combat, etc. The end result is that the RD ends up spending three or more standing orders on Phoenix regeneration.

The companions drop off quickly when compared to other kingdoms, such as Hill Giants and Mammoths (fear effect), Trolls (regen and PC bonus), Orcs (numerous and morale bonus), and so on.

The terrain requirements are also restrictive. Kingdoms that can pick up companions from the plains have it so good. Being restricted to mountains or forests is a significant hindrance for the RD.

The dragons also cannot summon any troops, so no minotaurs or specters or iron golems for the dragons.

PC Recruitment – Not allowed. This may be overlooked, but I feel this is a substantial weakness of the RD. Other kingdoms can travel from PC to PC, attacking and recruiting. The RD cannot. If they need more troops, they must veer off and find a mountain or forest square to restock.

Wizards – Very poor wizards, perhaps the worst. Dispel Dome is a key spell for a military kingdom. The NO, DA, and RA all get it at 3. The DW gets it at 4. The Red? 5. Dispel Regional effect and Protection from Regional Effect both come along at 5. The early RD spells are Firestrike, Hidden Ore (which is nice), and True Seeing. A bit ironic that they get True Seeing early when they already get a free level one recon.  Also of note, the RD doesn’t get Fertile Fields at all.

Agents - Typical for evil kingdoms. The one bonus is the nine-square range.

Emissaries – As agents, typical with the extended range. The extra range (9 vs 7) is very good, but this is not mentioned on the setup or results, making me wonder if people play the RD and never realize this fact.

Navies – The RD has no ships but can freely fly over the seas, so no loss there, right…? Well, not so fast. With no navie,s the RD cannot take advantage of mercantile orders, nor can they run sea patrols. I believe this tradeoff is fine, especially with the dragon’s lair taking the place of mercantile gold.

Water Capital – For reasons that are not clear (and not mentioned in the rulebook or setup), the RD cannot have a water capital. This is a big deal and can really hurt the RD. A water capital provides some extra protection to a capital, something the RD cannot take advantage of. It is also a boon to enemies of the RD as they don’t need to consider any water PC as a possibility.

So what to do?

My suggestions, keeping in mind current programtic limitations:

• Increase RD reinforcement dramatically, perhaps to 2,3,2,3. This allows them more late game power.
• Move Dispel Dome and Protect Regional Effect to p-3. Move Dispel Regional Effect and Cold Darkness to P-4. Allow p-6 RD wizards to summon Specters.
• Give them Fertile Fields and Conceal Emissary at p-3
• Allow them to have a water capital
• Change the kingdom customization to allow them to choose kingdom brigades as an option
• Add additional flying companions as options – Rocs, Eagles, Griffons, and Cockatrices are all options. Allow one or more to be recruited in the plains. Allow them to recruit up to ten Wyvern.
• Make the Phoenix regeneration automatic
• Give them the Feudal trait to help boost the emissary core and take advantage of the extra movement range

I messed something up on the reply to this post.  
1)  Food is an issue - Red Dragon mages need to be able to fertile field easier or some other mechanism, maybe something like FORAGE - Red Dragon troops as an action can forage for x amount of food.  Basically they hunt.
2) More companions or at least increasing the amount of companions is needed.  I am not a expert but why can the DK have so many Hell Hounds and all the Red can have is 5 wyverns and 10 great bats
3) If played correctly early they are powerful but I carved up a Red Dragon as the Lizard around turn 7, I was on defensive.
4) Customization, Horn of plenty maybe as a option.
5) Its a fun position but like the Phoenix of old they burn out early.

[Strongwill]

Troop Quality - Red Dragon kingdom brigades are excellent, among the best...but not THE best. GI troops are better, at least by the numbers on the turn sheet. The NO is nearly as good.

(Revamped Saurus troops are outstanding)

Terrains - The RD is great in all terrains, except the forest, where they struggle. The GI, however, has no bad terrain. The NO also has no terrain with a negative score (one would think the marsh would be bad for the NO).

The NO has 3,3,3,3. In kingdom customization; Troop Cost - RD troops are expensive, even for an evil. Kingdom brigades cost 2625 food and gold. The GI is a bit higher, 3000 each. The NO is a steal – 1100!

Throw in the summer advantages of summer attack, oasis and the like, might be on of the best kingdoms out there. Imo