Let's Play Age of Wonders III: User Input Required

One point in Expander, toss two into one of fire, air or destruction, whatever lets us turn prissy terrain tiles into productive centers of industry the fastest.

Fire lets us make our terran Tropical, which Draconians enjoy. We'll go with that.

Call that Warbob Sexlizard.

Warbob Sexlizard it is.



Hello citizens. Welcome to fireside chats with Warbob Sexlizard. Now, as you all know, the rule of the village of Lizardheim has traditionally been decided with single combat to determine a dictator for life. Warbob Sexlizard's ascendancy was unusual in that Warbob Sexlizard was fairly unknown prior to the tournament that ended in Warbob Sexlizard's victory. Warbob Sexlizard has been busy designing the weapon that Warbob Sexlizard used to slay the other contenders. Warbob Sexlizard does not intend to be the only draconian to wield these 'firearms' - in fact, it is Warbob Sexlizard's intention to create many such weapons and in larger forms and use them to unite the world. In this world, warfare is a leading cause of death and a massive waste of resources. By uniting the world under Warbob Sexlizard's able command, Warbob Sexlizard can do away with all of this waste and focus on Warbob Sexlizard's one true goal: Progress. Warbob Sexlizard will prove the value of Progress by using its teachings to crush those that are backwards in thought and deed.

Some of you may have noticed that Warbob Sexlizard does not use pronouns when referring to Warbob Sexlizard. Warbob Sexlizard would like to make it clear that Warbob Sexlizard does not accept the use of any pronouns, including first and second person forms, when in reference to Warbob Sexlizard. Warbob Sexlizard trusts that there will not be any violations of this.

Now, on with the campaign!

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Spoiler

We start with a Gold Mine and a Great Farm (which increases population) under our control, which is a decent pair of resources. Just outside our city's influence to the north is a Magma Forge, which will add additional production to our capital, and two additional Gold Mines. Given that production and gold are the two limiting factors for Dreadnaughts, we will want to capture all three of these as soon as possible. Their current neutral guards will also help our units level up.


Our first hero is an unusual High Elf - having accepted the value of Progress, she has come to offer her services to Warbob Sexlizard in the hopes of learning from Warbob Sexlizard's example. She is also an Archdruid. This makes sense because reasons.

In Age of Wonders III, units are limited to 6 in each stack. It is, however, possible to have more than six units on our side in one battle by having multiple stacks bordering the hex being attacked. Heroes can confer bonuses onto any stacks that they are leading, so we will have Imane the Nightowl lead our secondary stack.

Currently, the only structure in range is the Magma Forge, so we will want to take that first. Once we have done so, we can send a fast unit with extra move to grab the Production Resources to the west of Lizardheim. This will automatically build a city upgrade for us, which can jump start our production.

We do, however, have two choices available to us -
First, what research will we take?

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Spoiler

The two best options are most likely Steam Powered and Summon Spy Drone. While most research options are randomly determined, Summon Spy Drone is the first research option on a track. This track will let us build Engineers, followed by Musketeers, followed by Cannons, and so on. If we want to build tanks, we will need to go down this track to the very end. This will also give us a way to use our mana, since we are limited in terms of how many combat spells we can cast each turn.

On the other hand, Steam Powered will give us a lot of extra gold given our surroundings, which will enable to us to build much more quickly. If we are going to research this eventually (and we will), it is probably better to do so sooner so that we can get the gold flowing right as early as possible.

Given that there is water to our south, we will also want to research Seafaring at some point. This is not urgent, however, as the structures that we want to take first are to our north anyways.

The second choice is what do we want to build first.


The Store House improves our population gain each turn. Population increases the level of our settlement (presently a village), and each level grants additional production, gold, and research.

The Builders' Hall improves our production directly. This will let us accelerate our construction for other buildings.

Since we are going to be reliant on producing our most powerful units rather than summoning them, it is vital for us to focus on developing our capital's infrastructure before worrying about building units. There also exist 'Empire Quests,' which grant rewards for being the first faction to achieve certain goals. One of these goals is the construction of the Grand Palace, the highest end infrastructure building. Another is to be the first to have a Metropolis, the highest level of settlement. Achieving each of these goals will grant a bonus to Lizardheim, and the two go hand in hand as the infrastructure that we develop will help grow our city. As long as Warbob Sexlizard's exploration and expansion allows us to gather gold rather than expending it, we should be able to achieve both of these bonuses.