Appropriate Time / Stage to Start League or MP Games

[oddjob008]

Hello Everyone,

First of all, I just want to express my gratitude to Dr. Scott, the developers, and the incredible community surrounding these series of games.

I struggled with the historical scenarios / battles for Sengoku Jidai and Pike and Shot for months before I finally took the advice of the community / manuals seriously and got my feet more wet via the "Quick Battles" in Field of Glory II. Once I was able to shift from a mind set of "destroying" each individual unit to one of inducing panic and dread by dominating weaker neighboring units, things finally started to click, and I am nearing the end of Caesar's campaign in the base game of FoG II, learning from the mistakes I make with each battle.

At this point, I imagine I would learn so much from playing against any sort of human player, but I fear that I may be wasting their time or even upsetting them by not being much of a match for them.

With that said, I was wondering the following:

1.) At what point would it be best to join MP games / leagues / tournaments? Is there any sort of SP milestone that would indicate I am at least ready for the MP arena?

2.) Is there a league / group for beginners or newcomers?

Thanks so much and I look forward to the coming battles!

[SnuggleBunnies]

1) I started playing MP once I was reliably beating the AI on difficulty 3 (Sergeant-Major) in Pike and Shot
2) Not exactly, but the Digital League has each section divided into divisions by player skill, Division A being the most experienced players, B slightly less, etc. So if you are a total newcomer with no record to allocate you into a division, you would be put into the lowest rated division with other newcomers.

The league has its own subforum here: https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=501

The vast majority of players are really nice and happy help out newer players, so I hardly think you'd irritate anyone by picking up their open matches. You can of course just post your own challenges as well, and if you want to add a note to the effect of 'new to the game' or something.

[oddjob008]

The vast majority of players are really nice and happy help out newer players, so I hardly think you'd irritate anyone by picking up their open matches. You can of course just post your own challenges as well, and if you want to add a note to the effect of 'new to the game' or something.

Thank you so much! I'll go ahead and work my way up to being able to comfortably compete against the AI on level 3 in a few more campaigns, lurk the subforum for the DL, and slowly ease myself into the MP community.

Also, you (and your YouTube channel, posts in these forums + Steam discussions) were among the resources I found helpful, so much thanks for your contribution(s) too!

Look forward to seeing you on the field one day.

[Ray552]

Are you using the "Rise of AI" global mod, which is a great improvement over the default AI?

Please see this thread: viewtopic.php?f=477&t=102040

If you can beat that AI reliably at level 3 (Legate in FOG2) then jump into the MP lobby.

If you're already beating the "Rise of AI", if you like, you can PM me to start a mirror match - I like posting mirror matches so each player has a chance to win, even if one of the armies is a poor match for the other (for example, a hypothetical battle between one of the Arab Conquest lists vs. Slave Revolt)

[stockwellpete]

Thank you so much! I'll go ahead and work my way up to being able to comfortably compete against the AI on level 3 in a few more campaigns, lurk the subforum for the DL, and slowly ease myself into the MP community.

Also, you (and your YouTube channel, posts in these forums + Steam discussions) were among the resources I found helpful, so much thanks for your contribution(s) too!

Look forward to seeing you on the field one day.

I have added you to the invitation list for Season 12 of the FOG2 Digital League starting on October 1st. Invitations will go out by PM (private message) in mid-September.

[SimonLancaster]

Just join the Digital League in September and give it a bash. There are usually six divisions in Classical and so a number of new players in Div F. You can also join the Discord group for FoG 2 and chat to people. It is quite easy to organise a MP game with someone:

https://discord.gg/VgdrMx8

All for fun! Best of luck!

[oddjob008]

Are you using the "Rise of AI" global mod, which is a great improvement over the default AI?

Please see this thread: viewtopic.php?f=477&t=102040

If you can beat that AI reliably at level 3 (Legate in FOG2) then jump into the MP lobby.

If you're already beating the "Rise of AI", if you like, you can PM me to start a mirror match - I like posting mirror matches so each player has a chance to win, even if one of the armies is a poor match for the other (for example, a hypothetical battle between one of the Arab Conquest lists vs. Slave Revolt)

Thanks so much for pointing me to the Rise of AI mod! I think after this current campaign finishes, I'll go ahead and try a few custom battles with it on and work my to comfortably competing against the AI on Legate. I'll remember to send a PM when I'm at that point.

[oddjob008]

And thank all of you for your input / encouragement / feedback.

[tyronec]

I would say just join the DL. You will get good games against other players near your own ability, and if they defeat you then they will get the benefits of a win and you will learn faster.
You could also try the Swiss tournaments, they are much more random about what opposition you might face (and occasionally they don't turn up) but I don't think there is going to be any criticism of a newcomer playing.