Here's my dilemma. I want to be a turtle. I really, really do. Laboring in the darkness, bringing the best minds in my faction together with me to research the spell of mastery; the incense hanging in the air as a tapestry against the droning of their voices, intoning the proper phrases to reveal the mysteries of the titans to me.
However, there aren't a LOT of best minds, mind you, because I need food to feed them. So, either I invest heavily in the magical research path, and eventually get swallowed up by the bigger, more martially inclined neighbors, or I have to become so inclined to get enough food to feed my bookish minions.
Yes, I can research lost bounty. Yes, I can cast nature's bounty. But it just seems like you MUST go on the offensive early, and take neighboring factions down quickly (before they become...erm...unmanageable), in order to have enough food. At that point, you're so far ahead militarily that there's simply not any point to working your way down either the master quest or spell of mastery victory conditions. They don't really have the "come from behind militarily to win the game through other means" feel to them, they're just a late game alternative choice, after the game is all but won by force of arms.
Anyone else seeing this? Alternatively, if you have won the game by the master spell, could you tell those of us with less well developed strategies how it's done?
Winni
