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Game write-up
Introduction
Seeing that it seems to be so hard to find any game writeups for Dominions 2, I have decided to undertake one myself. I will theoretically end up playing at a higher skill level due to forcing myself to think ahead a little as I write down what happens, and what I was thinking at the time. One word of note. I'm pretty new at this whole thing. I've played a single game with Ulm to nearly the end, but other than that, I've only played about 3 partial games (counting one game with the demo). Don't expect to see any brilliant play, but hopefully you will enjoy reading about me (hopefully) having some fun. I welcome your comments about things that have happened, and your speculation about what may yet come. I think though that I will have more fun learning by doing, and so I ask that you restrain yourself when it comes to making strategic suggestions. Of course, if I ask for suggestions on a particular topic, feel free to chime in. Creating a Pretender: The first step of course is creating a pretender. I've tried C'tis and Ulm before, and I'd like to try something different. Since I'm not really sure what I might find interesting, I decide to pick a nation at random. I pull a 20 sided die from my dice bag, and find that fate dictates I should play... Mictlan. Hmm... I'm not sure I'm ready to try out blood magic yet. I've barely got a basic grasp on normal magic. At the risk of irritating Fate, I roll again... T'ien Ch'i. Right. We'll give that a shot. "T'ien Ch'i is a bureaucratic empire. Versatile mages of the Way, Celestial Masters, and Religios ministers serve the emperor. The cavalry of the empire is well known and sacred celestial beings form an elite core of the armies." Ok. I've always liked cavalry. That will be good. I will also want to keep a close eye on my bless effects when creating my Pretender. A quick peek at the excellent quick reference sheet shows me that T'ien Ch'i has some water magic and a bit of astral, air, and fire. I think I'll take a shot at a semi-rainbow Pretender with blessable levels in those areas and low levels in most of the rest. After some thought, I settle on the Arch-Mage, figuring that the high strategic movement could be useful for moving around to do searches. The cheap magic path cost will be useful for picking up the magic types I need. After being completely unable to come up with an appropriate sounding name given the nation, I am at Last able to introduce you to... Tai, Lord of the Winds, Rule of the Ocean's Surface, Keeper of the Celestial Records. He has 4 levels in the Path of Fire, 4 levels in the Path of Air, 4 levels in the Path of Water, 4 levels in Astral magic, and 1 level in the Path of Earth. (The Last was taken to use up a few extra points and to gain the extra point of protection.) My dominion's scales are set to Order 1 (for the conscription benefit), and Cold 1 (for a few extra points). Dominion strength is set to 5. I'd like it higher, but just couldn't afford it. For my castle, I am using a Fortress. Despite the higher cost compared to other castles, I feel I will need the higher Admin level in order to be able to more heavily recruit my sacred troops. Oh, and in case you are wondering... Tai is the name of my somewhat vicious cat. Creating a New Game I've only played once before on The Desert Eye, and that was in the demo. I think I'll give it another shot. Strength of Independants is set to 5, and the rest of the Game Settings are left on the default. Some more random dice rolls indicate that I will be fighting against the following (Normal AI) nations: Abysia, Pythium, Ulm, Arcoscephale, Ermor, Marignon, Vanheim, R'lyeh, Mictlan, and Machaka. I am a little nervous to see Ermor on that list, as I've read scary things about them. I guess we'll just have to see what happens. I've also never played with Normal AIs before. I expect I'll get trounced in this game, but I suppose that's ok. Tune in later for the opening moves of the game. |
Re: Game write-up
You should have a pretty good match up there, and with Marignon in the mix, you may not even have to deal with Ermor personally if they start out near to each other!
Good luck! We'll be reading along! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif |
Re: Game write-up
TIP: If Marignon (or some others) are between you and Ermor then make "Herald Lances" and send them. Marignon with herald lances will kick Ermors tail for you but those wont do much good against you when the time comes later.
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[ January 28, 2004, 03:25: Message edited by: Targa ] |
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IIRC = If I recall correctly, a CYA measure in case you are wrong http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif
In the Manual on page 5 it lists the blessing effects. Though there is a discrepency. I'll post them here so you don't have to RTFM http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif This is based off the initial magic levels of a Nation/Themes pretender. This is hardwired into your nation and even if you Empower or your Pretender dies and the value is changed for his magic, the blessing will stay the same as when the Pretender was created. ALL - Morale +3 Fire 4 - Attack Skill +2 Fire 6 - Attack Skill +3 Fire 8 - Attack Skill +4 Fire 9 - Flaming Weapons (8 AP Fire Damage added to weapons) Fire 10 - Attack Skill +5 Air 4 - Air Shield (20%) Air 5 - Air Shield (30%) Air 6 - Air Shield (40%) Air 7 - Air Shield (50%) Air 8 - Air Shield (60%) Air 9 - Shock resistance (75%), Air Shield (70%) Air 10 - Air Shield (80%) Water 4 - Defense Skill +2 Water 6 - Defense Skill +3 Water 8 - Defense Skill +4 Water 9 - Quickness (50%) Water 10 - Defense Skill +5 Earth 4 - Reinvigoration 2 Earth 6 - Reinvigoration 3 Earth 8 - Reinvigoration 4 Earth 9 - Armor value +4 Earth 10 - Reinvigoration 5 Astral 4 - Magic Resistance +1 (Max 18) Astral 6 - Magic Resistance +2 Astral 8 - Magic Resistance +3 Astral 9 - Twist Fate (protection from first hit) Astral 10 - Magic Resistance +4 Death 4 - Lesser Fear Death 6 - Lesser Fear Death 8 - Lesser Fear Death 9 - Life after Death (Non-undead units who die are animated as souless and retain most of their abilities (magic paths) but lose their resistances), Cause Fear* (Undead beings only) Death 10 - Lesser Fear Nature 4 - Berserk +1 Nature 6 - Berserk +2 Nature 8 - Berserk +3 Nature 9 - Regeneration, Poison Resistance (50%) Nature 10 - Berserk +4 Blood 4 - Strength +2 Blood 6 - Strength +3 Blood 8 - Strength +4 Blood 9 - Death Curse (The unit that kills the blessed unit will be *Cursed* as the spell of the same name) Blood 10 - Strength +5 |
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In order to give opponents item, there is a "Messages" tab on the main interface. If you click on it allows you to send Messages, items, gems, gold, and blood slaves to any one opponent. This is a good way to play 'diplomacy' in single player games, as nations are less likely to declare war on a nation that is feeding them gems, money or slaves. |
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Lab-forged Magic Items can be found at this link:
http://ulm.illwinter.com/dom2/MIpdfv2.5.pdf Sacred troops are automatically improved by Bless effects if your pretender begins the game with level four or nine of any magic path. These different benefits show on page five of the game manual. Thanks for the write-up AStott. I have fewer turns under my belt than you, so look forward to your updates. Aikamun [ January 28, 2004, 03:51: Message edited by: Aikamun ] |
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a) does the unit have to be sacred to get raised into undeath? b) does it have to be blessed at the time of death? c) does it retain its normal leader status if a mage etc. Thanks, Rabe the Thanatonic |
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You should note Rabe, that undead (I.E. Souless) have no upkeep. And a strategy was to take a 9 Death blessing, go into battle with your sacred mages, cast Breath of Winter and have your mages clustered around after being blessed, die and presto, no upkeep mages, priests, prophets, etc.
Also any sacred unit that becomes a soulless Version (Like Jotun Woodsmen, Battle Vestals, etc) gain the "Undead" blessing effect of Cause Fear and can suddenly turn the tide of a battle if a large section of blessed units are killed at the same time. [ January 28, 2004, 05:10: Message edited by: Zen ] |
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I think we blew out the poor guys original purpose for this thread. Im sorry. Please. Continue with the game writeup
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Heh. Yeah, some things here are slightly off topic. Not that big a deal. I'm hoping to get a couple turns played tonight, but we'll have to see. I've got to read some Messages here first, then we'll see how much time I've got left to play before I need to sleep. (Must... sleep...)
Oh yeah... I didn't realize that the bless effect scaled up between levels 4 and 9. I just thought the effects were at one level between 4 and 8 and then jumped at 9. Interesting... |
Re: Game write-up
Initial Review
I've started the game out in a coastal province. For those who like to follow allong, I'm in T'ien Ch'i (112). Of the four non-water provinces around me, one is farm/forest, one is forest/mountain, one is mountain, and one is farm/mountain. My own province is forest. Obviously I have no idea yet about populations (and therefore gold income) or anything else useful. I take a look at my starting units. I've got Tai, my Arch Mage of course. I also have Naggor the Scout, and Di-ya the Eunuch. Di-ya isn't much of a commander, but he's something. I place my 5 horsemen (light cavalry), 12 archers, and 8 footmen (with pikes) under his command. Since none of these units has any significant armor, I'm going to need to be really cautious of armies with ranged attacks. Against those, I plan to place my melee units far forward and charge the enemy while my archers fire at enemy archers. The cavalry will of course attempt to flank the enemy. Against enemies with no (or weak) archers, I will have everyone hang far back, with the melee units delaying for two turns before attacking. Again, the cavalry will attempt to flank and hit the rear. With this force, I think it would be wise to hold back for one turn so I can get some kind of estimate about the forces in the provinces around me. I will send Naggor south to Bithyne (102) (the farm/mountain province), as this should be a nice income and resource province for me. I'll then try for the nearby weakest provinces, attempting to work my way north as much as possible to take all the provinces around T'ien Ch'i. In the meanwhile, I'll set about attempting to build a second army featuring some heavier armor, sacred troops, and a priest or two. Tai will be researching until I can get some mages to take over, freeing him up to search for magic sites. I'll focus my research on Construction until I hit level 2, then I'll start branching out. I don't expect to heavily use my mages in combat until later. Turn: 1 Though expensive, I recruit a Celestial Master. He will be my prophet, and will also help out quite nicely in the research area. In addition, I queue up a Red Guard (the start of my elite cavalry unit), and two spear wielding Imperial Footman. They'll be nice units to guard my archers. This leaves me with 54 gold in my treasury, which will probably be sorely needed later to pick up priests and mages. ******************** Turn: 2 Nothing significant in the Messages. Just a couple prophet announcements. Naggor sends back a report from Bithyne (102). On the good side, there are only about 20 hostiles. On the bad side, it's mostly heavy cavalry and heavy infantry. Not something I feel comfortable taking on when my main punch is composed of archers. I send Naggor on to the east, to Iron Range (102). This isn't directly accesible from T'ien Ch'i, but I want to get a feel for what's around. I quick check on the other provinces around T'ien Ch'i reveals that two of the other three feature archers or crossbowmen. The final, Lombaria (120) to the north (along the coast) has approximately 40 light and heavy infantry. This sounds tough, but should be do-able. I send Di-ya and his 25 troops up north (and hope that the enemy size was over estimated, not underestimated). Sun-pi the Celestial Master has arrived at T'ien Ch'i. He features the standard array of magical skills, plus a single level of death magic. I declare him as my newly discovered prophet. After recruiting another Red Guard and two Imperial Footmen I am (unfortunately) three gold short of the 100 I need to recruit a Master of the Way to begin helping out with research efforts. I decided to hold off on spending that gold this turn so that I can get a Master of the Way next turn. Following that, I'll try to pick up a Prince General as the leader of my army which is forming. At the Last minute, I decide to increase the taxes to 110. I'll drop it back down to 100 again before the unrest gets out of hand. ******************** Turn: 3 Another four nations announce new prophets. Of course, the only one that really matters is the announcement from T'ien Ch'i... In addition, I've completed research in level 1 Construction magic. Feeling a little nervous, I bring up the battle replay. The Battle for Lombaria It appears the independants have 5 crossbowmen, 7 heavy infantry, 15 light infantry, and 3 commanders. Hmm... The battle begins with my archers being unfortunately innaccurate. Probably not too surprising given the shields worn by the enemy infantry. I lose one footman to the crossbowmen before my troops start moving. My cavalry is of course headed off towards the crossbowmen. Good. My footmen are remarkably bold. They take massive losses, but somehow route the enemy light infantry before the two survivors turn and flee back towards my archers. My cavalry fails to make much of a dent in the enemy rear before the one remaining horseman turns and flees. This isn't looking good... Fortunately, my archers remain strong and force back the enemy heavy infantry in hand-to-hand combat. That proves to be sufficient. The remaining enemy forces turn and run. The Battle for Lombaria has been won by my brave troops. I lost 12 men. Not too bad, considering the opposition, but I'm definitely going to have to send Di-ya back to the capital for some fresh troops. As a nice bonus, Di-ya is now apparently in the hall of fame. He has picked up the Heroic Endurance ability. Yeah... that'll be useful. Interestingly enough, taking Lombaria (120) reveals that Pythium has already taken the next province to the north (along the coast). Grey Mirks (3) may not currently have much of an army, but it's already at a dominion level of -1. That strongly implies that his capital is only one province further away. Something to watch out for. I also spot another -1 dominion province off to the south in Winter Peaks (95). I should still have plenty of space to expand to the east though. I set Sun-pi the prophet to continual research in the field of Construction, and send Tai north to Lombaria (120) to hunt for magical sites. A quick check for unrest reveals that setting the tax rate at T'ien Ch'i (112) to 110 had no effect on unrest, so I happily leave it there. Lombaria (120) is at11 unrest, so I set the tax rate there to my standard of 100 minus the unrest rounded to the nearest 10. In this case that would mean a tax of 90. Seems to work well enough. My recruits this time will be a Master of the Way, and my now standard allotment of Red Guard and Imperial Footmen. The remaining 91 gold will be needed to purchase that Prince General soon. Well... make that 25 remaining gold. The remainder is spent upgrading the defence in Lombaria (120) to 11. Oh yes, almost forgot about Naggor (so hard to keep track of scouts). Looks like Iron Range (106) is defended by 30 hostiles, militia and heavy infantry. Should be a good site to hit. Oh... other than the fact it's a mountain/waste province. Hmm... Naggor will move on to the north-east, into the province Keban (111). From there I'll be able to quickly head towards the provinces held by Pythium. ******************** Well, that's it for tonight. Time to head to bed. I doubt I'll remain this detailed (unless people want me too). I'll probably go with whatever feels like an interesting level of detail. So far I'm finding that game play is definitely slower since I write stuff up as I play, but it's really not that bad. The benefit of course is that I end up putting more thought into my turns and I also have a record to check back on for remembering what I'd planned to do. That should be helpful. Tune in next time for Turn 4. |
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Just a quick thought: A game write-up like this might be a good walkthrough for newer players. Stating things like who/what you're recruiting and for what purpose, what you're researching and why, how you set formations and deploy your armies are all helpful tips. Entirely up to you of course, but I, for one, am cheering you on! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
Taking a break from playing, it's fun to read, and interesting also for the dramatic aspect you place on it. Nice storytelling. |
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(Still don't know answer to the above) More to the point...Can I put a shroud on say a black hunter lord and have it come back as a huge undead upkeep free spider and zombie rider?? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif (I just tested this ... the answer is no, no resurrection on hunters which I think is a serious bug) http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif Shouldn't all sacred units have souless equivs, given the life after death blessing? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif Dammit. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif This is why I wanted the DS, at least there the blessing is useful.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif I think one of the first mods I'm making when pretenders become eligible, is a cheap base3 god for each element avalable to each race... (moloch-fire) (titan, or new cheaper (roc?) for air) (nereid/SotS/new immobile for water) (cyclops/new cheaper (basilisk?) for earth) (oracle for astral) (PoD for death) (divine serpent/greenman for nature) (FoB for the femicidial maniacs out there) It seems like thematic considerations shouldn't grossly interfere with basic bless effect potentials. (*That* would be permutatively unthematic) I love this game, this game makes me crazy. Rabe the failed Mad Spider Taxidermist |
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Prophet announcments can be informative. There have been times I have chosen my first few prophets completely by their name and whether or not that name would give an early clue about my domain/theme.
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Turn: 4
How nice! In Lombaria, a handful of magic astral gems have been found on a starry night. Always nice to see stuff like that. While just doing a quick check of what ritual spells can be cast and what magic items forged by Sun-pi the prophet, and the new Kui-xing the Master of the Way. I realize that Sun-pi with his single level of death magic can create a Skull Talisman. This really is one of my favorite low level items. It's great for non-magical commanders, because it gives them something to do during battle that is both useful and keeps them out of harm's way. I've even had battles won in past games because all the regular troops ran off, but one or two commanders just kept cranking out the undead until the enemy broke and ran. I set Kui-xing to researching and put Sun-pi to work building a skull talisman. This means that Di-ya will have to wait around T'ien Ch'i for an extra turn, but I suppose that will just give him a chance to collect a few more of the tougher troops. Meanwhile, up in Lombaria (120), Tai is assigned to search for magic sites. He's all alone up there, but I not particularly worried at this point. The one adjacent enemy province only has an estimated 4 men. I really don't expect them to attack. This turn I purchase a Master of Rituals, a Red Guard, and two Imperial Footmen. The Master of Rituals will accompany my single army to provide blessings and other holy support. Next turn I'll get back to generating more mages for additional research. I thought I moved Naggor into Keban (111) Last turn, but it looks like I canceled his order somehow, as he's still hanging around Iron Range (106). I get him moving again, and dock him one month's pay for his laziness. Unrest has risen to 1 in T'ien Ch'i. This is quite acceptable. I'll leave the tax level at 110 for now. ******************** Turn: 5 Unfortunately, Tai has discovered no magical sites. I'll send him back to T'ien Chi to continue researching. Keban (111) is a plains province, and contains 40 heavy and light infantry. I'll send Naggor north along the coast to Acyste (125). This is just east of Grey Mirks (3) which you might recall is occupied by Pythium troops. Ru Shou is my new Minister of Rituals. He joins Di-ya the Eunuch and the freshly filled army as they head south to Bithyre (102). Occupied by a smaller number of Heavy Cavalry and Heavy Infantry, this should be a tough fight, but winnable. Unrest is down to 3 in Lombaria (120), so I raise the tax back to 100. T'ien Ch'i's unrest is up to 3, so I drop the tax there back down to 100 in order to give the people a break. Sun-pi resumes research work. With his help, level 2 construction magic will be reached next turn. A little bit of remaining effort will be put into Thaumaturgy. Being very short on gold, I am able to recruit one Master of the Way, one Red Guard, and one Imperial Footman. Boy, I need to grab a few gold producing provinces quick here... ******************** Turn: 6 The Battle for Bithyne It looks like I'm up against 6 Heavy Infantry, 10 Heavy Cavalry, and two mounted commanders. Normally against armies with no archers I'd have had my melee troops hold back and let my archers fill the enemy with arrows. This time though, I knew there were Heavy Cavalry which would hit my line pretty quickly. Therefore, I set my melee units to attack, hoping in particular that my cavalry would take out an enemy leader quickly. Once again, my mounted troops are dropped quite quickly (grumble... might start spending less on them). I fear for the safety of my Imperial Footmen, as they take the brunt of the enemy's Heavy Cavalry charge. Somehow though, they stand firm, and within a couple rounds, the enemy cavalry turns and flees. With just a couple more rounds of fighting, my troops are able to chase off the remaining enemies. Victory is ours! At the final count, I lost 6 men (mostly cavalry) while killing 2 enemy commanders and 16 regular units. I am definitely not pleased with the performance of my Red Guard, although I will admit that even after losing two thirds of the men in their unit, they still fought on bravely... I set Yu (my new Master of the Way) to researching, while tai moves south to Bithyne (102) to search for magical sites. Di-ya, Ru Shou, and the First Army will move back to T'ien Ch'i to acquire fresh troops. I switch over all of my research focus to Thaumaturgy. Unfortunately, I will be left just two points short of reaching level 1 next turn. I drop taxes in Bithyne (102) to 90 to reduce unrest from its current level of 8. Up in Acyste (125), I see that Naggor is now able to see one province north to Pythium (5). Interesting. I think I'll send him in and see if I can raise unrest to keep his gold totals low. I decide to forgo purchasing a Red Guard this time. I think I need to assemble a larger unit before I send them into battle. With such a large savings, I am able to purchase another Master of the Way, three Imperial Footmen, and three Archers... Hmmm... nice. Sometime I do need to get back to those Red Guard, but it'll have to wait until I've got more gold available. Oh yes, I also increase the defense in Bityne (102) to 4 (as much as I can afford). While looking around the map for any Last tasks, I sudden realize that the two bordering sea provinces to my west are now owned by R'lyeh. Yikes! Despite our nations' common interest in names that include apostrophes, I think I'm going to need to keep a very close eye on them. ******************** It appears that three turns is a nice number of turns to play in one sitting when writing up details of this sort. I might get a larger chunk of time to play this weekend. We'll see. I'm relatively pleased so far, although I do think that I should have held off building the Red Guard for now. They need to be used in a larger block I think, and I don't yet have to gold to put that together. It's certainly too bad that so many of my surrounding provinces seem to have a low population (and thus supply minimal taxes). Tune in next time for Turn 7. |
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PvK |
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[ January 31, 2004, 20:49: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ] |
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...bump...
Eagerly awaiting the next chapter in the saga. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif |
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Don't worry, I'm still here. The one chance I got to play this weekend got interrupted two minutes after I opened the game. We'll see if I get a chance to play tonight (hopefully so).
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Turn: 7
Naggor the Scout has now reached Pythium. From here, it appears that they currently possess three provinces. Unfortunately, it appears that scouts are not given the option of causing unrest. Ah well, back to scouting. I'll go sit in Grey Mirks (3) so I'll have a good idea of when to begin attacking Pythium and when he might attack me. Down in Bithyne (102), Tai begins his search for magical sites. I set Kui-xing the Master of the Way to forging a Robe of Missile Protection. This will be useful for my non-combat commanders. Other than that, I really don't have the gems to spend, so my other mages will continue researching. I will finish up level 1 Thaumaturgy next turn, and the remaining points will go towards Conjuration (summoning is always fun). A quick check of unrest levels reveals that I can once more bump the taxes in T'ien Ch'i (112) up to 110. I think I'll send Di-ya the Eunuch, Ru Shou the Minister of Rituals, and the first army east to the Sleepy Mountains (109). This province holds a (theoretically) small number of Heavy and Light Infantry, and Crossbowmen. We'll set our archers to fire at the crossbowmen, and have the ground units wait a couple turns before attacking. With luck, we'll break the crossbowmen early and then be able to focus on the ground units. With the gold we have available this turn, we purchase 3 Imperial Footmen and 4 archers. No more Red Guard until we solve some of our income problems. We also spend some money to increase the local defense in Bythyne (102) from 4 to 11. I a little uncomfortable with R'lyeh right out there off our coasts. The remaining 37 gold in the treasury I'll save to try and get some more cash for mages and additional local defenses in my new provinces. ******************** Turn: 8 Excellent news! Tai found two magical sites in Bithyne. The first is a set of Standing Stones which produce one air gem and one earth gem each turn. The second is a Pearl Beach which produces 20 gold and one astral pearl each turn. Very useful stuff! The Defense of Lombaria Bad news. It looks like Pythium decided to attack this province. I guess the level 11 defenders weren't a sufficient deterent. In a battle that really isn't even close, my 11 footment and one Eunuch are chased off by the invading force of 9 Hastatus, 1 standard bearer, and a Theurg Communicant in the lead. Not good at all. The Battle for Sleepy Mountains My force is up against the local garrison of 7 crossbowmen, 11 light infantry, 10 heavy infantry, a priest, and 4 commanders. Happily enough, the crossbow men are routed before they get the chance to fire a second volley. This frees up my archers to fire at the approaching light and heavy infantry. After a single volley, the light infantry breaks and runs. This leaves only the heavy infantry and leaders. There is a tough extended skirmish between my Imperial Footmen and his heavy infantry, while my Red Guard attacks kills the enemy priest that was hanging back. They turn back to hit the enemy heavies from, while Longdead summoned by Di-ya with his ring stream forward to help out my Footmen. The enemy soon routes, and victory is mine. At the end, I have lost only a single unit (an Imperial Footman I believe). Tai, moves over into Sleepy Mountains (109) where he will hunt for more sites. Naggor will move down into Lombaria (120) to keep an eye on the troop levels there. I am now presented with a choice. I can move the First Army off towards Lombaria (120) to retake it from Pythium, or I can move east (away from my capital) and attempt to take Keban (111). It will take two turns for the First Army to reach Lombaria. In the process they will pass through the capital and have a chance to pick up two turns worth of recruited men to swell the ranks. Keban on the other hand appears to have a large population and would give me a rather nice gold boost... After some thought, despite a great desire for revenge again Pythium for their vicious sneak attack, I decide that it is more important at this stage to get the gold. The First Army will march for Keban. I am able to pick up a Eunuch, 3 Imperial Footmen, and 5 Archers this turn in the home province. This leaves me with 128 gold, which I will save for the defense of Keban and for the building of my second army which will be attempting to retake Lombaria. Sun-pi the Prophet will summon a Corpse Man. We will see if they are worth any kind of significant casting effort. Next turn will see the completion of the first level of Conjuration magic. This may provide some more alternatives. I drop the tax level in Sleepy Mountains (109) down to 90 for now to get the unrest level down. Bithyne (102) is ready to go back up to 100 tax. ******************** Turn: 9 The Battle for Keban It appears that we're up against the local garrison of 5 crossbowmen, 10 Light Infantry, about 20 or so Heavy Infantry and one Commander. That's a pretty scary group of Heavy Infantry. This could be tough. Our Archers are not so fortunate this time. They consistently miss the enemy Crossbowmen while the enemy melee units close in on ours. Things look grim. My Imperial Footmen are almost completely surrounded by the enemy Infantry, when the Red Guard finally reaches and eliminates the Crossbowmen. Immediately, my Archers retarget on the nearby Infantry while the Red Guard attempts to quickly eliminate the enemy commanders, hoping to cause the enemy to flee. After another turn of intense fighting, my squad of Imperial Footmen have been reduced to only three men. These turn and flee while my Archers release another flight of arrows at the enemy. Fortunately, this kills enough of them that they also turn and run. During the ensuing rout, the Archers and Red Guard account for a few more enemy troops. Unfortunately, in the process, one of the Red Guard is killed by the fleeing troops. Victory is ours, but it is expensive, costing us 7 of our Imperial Footmen and 1 precious Red Guard. In other news, Lu Tung-Pin the Immortal has arrived at our gates, seeking to fight for our cause. Despite being unarmored, he is quite skilled in attack and defense, has a high magic resistance, carries a demon slaying sword, is blessed, is a level 3 priest, and has level 3 astral magic, level 2 water magic, level 1 air magic, and level 1 fire magic. To top it all off, he can command 80 men! That will be very useful just as soon as we can raise the troops for him. Oh yeah, and he can fly. I take a look at the map, and discover (to my dismay) that Pythium has taken Shamballac (118). This was a neutral province to the east of Lombaria (120). It borders on both T'ien Ch'i and Keban. I definitely do not want to lose Keban and it's 50 gold income per turn, so I will probably have to leave the First Army there for now to protect it. As Tai goes to begin searching for magical sites in Sleepy Mountains (109), he discovers that there is already an Arena there. That will give us an additional 15 gold per turn. Very useful. After he finishes searching here, he'll take the two Imperial Footmen who fled the Battle for Keban back with him to Keban so that he can search there as well. The Corpse Construct summoned Last turn is an ok unit. It's main feature is a fairly large hit point total, and a fairly high strength. I'll hang on to it for now, but not focus on putting them out, as Sun-pi the Prophet is (ironically) the only one able to command undead. I go ahead and pump up the defenses in Keban to 11. I'd like to go higher, but I may need my gold for other things. I also purchase a single Heavy Infantry there to add to replace the losses in the First Army. This is all the resource level of the province can bear at this point. Back in T'ien Ch'i, I recruit another 3 Imperial Footmen and 5 Archers. I'm not that far from being able to afford another Celestial Master, but I decide instead to improve Keban's defences to 21. This makes me a lot more comfortable about a rather aggressive plan I have in mind. The First Army will move out of Keban and head for Shamballac (118). The Second Army (still a little small) under the command of Lu Tung-Pin the Immortal will meet them there. Together they will wrest control of that province from Pythium, and likely then move on to Lombaria. I'm hoping that his army of around a dozen units will stay in Shamballac, allowing me to eliminate them. ******************** That was an unfortunate event having lost Lombaria, but I think it'll work out just fine. It seems like the enemy defenses are not that large initially, and these territories may be easier to take back than it would be to take the provinces from the original defenders. After the battle, I may go ahead and combine the First and Second Armies under command of Lu Tung-Pin while Di-ya returns to T'ien Ch'i to assemble a new army. Tune in next time for Turn 10. |
Re: Game write-up
You have a flair for the dramatic, and a way with words. Moloch and Freak Lord give it two thumbs up! I really enjoyed reading this Last night....just wanted you to know. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif I also stick by my earlier statement that this is "a tutorial clothed in a story". Being able to read about your decisions (not only the choices, but why you made those choices) makes this thread as enlightening as it is entertaining.
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Re: Game write-up
I concur. An excellent mix of story and tutorial.
Please keep us informed of your progress. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif |
Re: Game write-up
I'll third that. An interesting read!
Are you planning to return to Lombaria in force soon or expand into neutral territory? |
Re: Game write-up
Turn: 10
Definitely some good news this time around. Tai discovered a magic site int Sleepy Mountains (109). It's a Waterfall that provides 1 air and 1 water gem each turn. Very nice. We also took over Shamballac (118) without a fight. Not as nice as taking out his armies, but it will do. Finally, we caught and killed a spy in T'ien Ch'i (). That'll teach them. Tai will be moving to Keban to search for magic sites there. He'll take the two Imperial Footmen with him. Naggor will move north to Grey Mirks (3) to continue keeping an eye on enemy troop movements. I am somewhat surprised to note that Gol Phalas (91) (this is the provice just south along the coast from Bithyne (102)) has been captured by Vanheim. Yikes, things are getting a little crowded! Time to pump up the defense in Bithyne a bit since I can't spare any real armies down that way. Of course I'll also need to pump the defense in my new province, Shamballac. This could get expensive... I also note that the province of Shamballac (118) is home to a site called Inkpot End. This unfortunate place spreads disease and increases unrest by 5. Ick. No wonder his troops didn't stick around. I'm set to finish research on level 2 Conjuration magic next turn. My next focus will be Enchantment. I purchase 3 Imperial Footmen and 5 Archers this turn. The rest of the money I'll need for local defenses. I also purchase another Heavy Infantry in Keban (111). These troops will stay with Tai (helping protect him) until he can deliver them to a field commander. I increase the tax in Sleepy Mountains (109) back to 100. The unrest in T'ien Ch'i (112) has somehow gotten out of hand (24), so I drop the tax rate to 90 for a while. I drop the tax rate in Shamballac (118) down to 60 to deal with it's unrest problems. I increase the provincial defense in Shamballac (118) to 11. I also increase the defense in Bithyne (102) to 16. Hopefully this will dissuade attacks until I can get something else in place. On second thought, Naggor will not move north to Grey Mirks. Instead, he will stay and Lombaria and attempt to capture the province. Since there aren't any forces there, and only a very small troop in the only enemy held bordering province, with a little luck, I should take it without difficulty. The First and Second Armies are merged under the leadership of Lu Tung-Pin the Immortal. Di-ya the Eunuch (who now happens to be diseased) will first move into Lombaria to help Naggor (in case there is minimal defenses) through the use of his skull talisman. Then he will move south to T'ien Ch'i where he will pass the talisman over to someone more qualified for the front lines. He will then take on a smaller patrolling army. Lu Tung-Pin will take the First Army north to Grey Mirks (3) and presumably smash all opposition there. ******************** Turn: 11 The second Battle for Lombaria Well, it looks like the enemy got some reinforcements. In fact, it looks like he's got a Hydra Hatchling, 18 Militia, a Centurion, an Alae Legionnaire, a Standard bearer, a Serpent Cataphract, and a Communicant. Yeah. I am so dead. I wonder where on earth that army came from... My scout manages to flee, but unfortunatly, Di-ya doesn't know what's good for him. A painful blow to lose that skull talisman, and sad to lose Di-ya and his heroic leadership. The Battle for Grey Mirks This battle is essentially the opposite in difficulty of the first. I'm up against 12 Militia and a single Centurion. Yeah right. I win without losing a single man. I do a quick review of the map at the start of my turn. I make some tax rate adjustments, and take note of the fact that a prior build up of R'yleh troops offshore from Bithyne, T'ien Ch'i, and Lombaria seems to have dispersed somewhat. That's a relief. In addition, Vanheim has reduced their garrison in Gol Phalas down to a minimal number. I'm much more comfortable with that. I recruit another 4 Imperial Footmen and 4 Archers in T'ien Ch'i, and another Heavy Infantry in Keban. I set Tai to searching for magic sites in Keban. Naggor retreated north to Grey Mirks (3), so I send him up to Pythium (5) to see what my enemy is gathering in the way of new forces. I increase my defense to 13 in Grey Mirks (as much as I can afford). I very strongly suspect that Pythium will send his troops out from Lombaria to attack Shamballac (118), seeing as it only has a defense of 11. Therefore, I will send the First Army back there to defend against the suspected attack. If I defeat the enemy there next turn, I may have a sufficient sized force in T'ien Ch'i to put together a new army to take Lombaria while the First Army heads back north. Not much else I can do this turn. I still need more gold... ******************** Turn: 12 Naggor was discovered in Pythium this turn. It appears that the enemy had mostly just provincial defenders there (admittedly a large number of them). This is good news, because it means (I believe) that Pythium's only army is trapped now down in my territory. Once I take that group out, I may be free to head for his capitol. Naggor was able to quickly flee the battle and retreat to Grey Mirks (3). Tai also found a Maze in Keban (111). This provides 2 astral pearls each turn. Tai will now move on with his 3 Heavy Infantry and 2 Imperial Footmen to Shamballac. There he will continue his search for magical sites. Naggor will move east into Acyste (125). This is a neutral held provice with decent gold production that lies in between Shamballac and Pythium. This might be a good next step for my war machine (after I deal with this enemy force holed up in Lombaria. Since they didn't move to Shamballac Last year (with its defense of 11), I'd like to assume that they also won't attack Grey Mirks (3) this year (with its defense of 13). Therefore, I will move the First Army directly into Lombaria to deal with the enemy. Since they are surrounded by my provinces, this should eliminate all of the enemy units. To help ensure victory, I will send the new Second Army under the command of Zi-yu the Eunuch north from T'ien Ch'i to help out in the battle. Zi-yu will bring 10 Imperial Footmen and 14 Archers to help with the battle. Afterwords, they will head back to T'ien Ch'i to resupply and then will head south to take more neutral territories there. I purchase 4 Imperial Footmen and 4 Archers in T'ien Ch'i. With my remaining gold, I increase the defense in Grey Mirks (3) to 20. ******************** Turn: 13 Bad news in Bithyne. A blight has struck there, and 5% of the population has died and 40 gold in taxes were lost. Ouch... The third Battle for Lombaria Bad news... It appears that the main enemy force left the war torn province of Lombaria leaving behind 6 Slingers, 12 Militia, and a Centurion for defense. Their other forces headed north into Grey Mirks. This battle though should prove to be very easy. Sure enough, after two volleys from my archers, the enemy is routed, and victory is mine. The defense of Grey Mirks I have here a number of local defenders. I've got a General and a Eunuch along with 1 Archer, and 21 Footment. I do not expect to win against the enemy's main army, but perhaps I can do some damage before I go down. The first bit of good news is that my troops get in a lucky hit and take out the Hydra Hatchling. That's very useful! I'm also able to take out a small variety of other troops before a massive assault by their heavy infantry causes my units to rout. In the final toll, I took out 5 of the enemy's regular units. I make a couple minor adjustments to tax rates, set Tai to searching in Shamballac (118), purchase 4 Imperial Footmen and 5 Archers, and increase the defense in Lombaria (120) to 11. After finishing with the administrative tasks, I need to decide what to do with the First and Second Armies. After a little thought, I do some minor rearranging of units. The surviving Red Guard goes with Zi-yu and the Second Army (he's not much good on his own, and the Second Army will eventually be heading back to T'ien Ch'i). Lu Tung-Pin and the First Army take on a couple extra men to bring their total to 12 Imperial Footmen and 24 Archers. I'm going to send Zi-yu and the Second Army into Shamballac to help protect Tai in case Pythium sends it's armies that way. The First Army will move north into Grey Mirks and attempt to take and hold that province. I really need some more gold here. A couple battle mages would be really nice about now... Speaking of leaders... I go ahead and spend my Last 25 gold on another Eunuch. He will be useful in shuttling around some units to the front. ******************** Turn: 14 Tai discovered a Gold Apply Tree in Shamballac (118). It produces 2 fire gems each turn. It looks like Naggor in Acyste (125) gets a front view seat to Pythium attacking the neutral defenders. Somehow, he's acquired a full grown Hydra to augment his forces. Eep! Fortunately, it poisons off a large number of his own troops. Still, they fairly easily take the province. The second Battle for Grey Mirks Once again, my main force finds itself up against a token force of 5 Archers and a Centurion. We've missed the main enemy force again. Victory comes quickly and painlessly. After taking care of some simple tax issues, I realize that I need to stop and think about what comes next. I'm very concerned about that Hydra (with its massive regeneration), and the enemy army is now in a province that borders on three of my own (one of which is Keban). I only have two armies, and I'm pretty sure that either army on its own will not succeed in taking out the enemy. For that matter, I'm not even sure my combined armies can take out his... Tune in next time for the rest of Turn 14. |
Re: Game write-up
Thanks people for the comments. I'll let you know right now that I've got a really bad feeling about how this game is progressing. I feel like I'm wasting too much time with Pythium. I'd be much more comfortable if I'd been able to force an encounter with his army earlier (when I could have eliminated it). Now... he's got me scared, and it's only a matter of time before Vanheim and R'lyeh start pestering me.
In the interest of adding to the tutorial aspect of this writeup (and considering the fact that I suspect my strategies will lead to my downfall in the end), I plan on inviting you guys to comment on what was good and bad about my plans once the game is finished. A nice post-operations discussion about the strategies involved will make a nice complement to anything this writeup might be able to teach someone. Once again though, I ask that you save these comments until after I manage to lose this game. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif |
Re: Game write-up
Just a suggestion if you seem to be having a massive problem with Money (which everyone has, but your current scales make it more noticable).
Use your newfound Fire and any Earth gems you have to alchemize them into money, if you are not doing so already. Though the temptation to keep them for a summons might be strong if you are in a situation where you lose one of your armies or he invades you to the point where you are losing alot of money it's best to alchemize. You could also do this to build another castle/lab/temple in need. |
Re: Game write-up
*whew* (wipes brow with relief). I thought for sure Naggor was a goner, yet he managed to cheat death not once, but twice! Did you instruct him to retreat if he found himself facing the enemy, or did he do that on his own?
Hopefully all those archers that you've been recruiting will be able to take care of that hydra. Too bad about the talisman (it's one of my favorite low-level items also). Hopefully it wasn't found on the battlefield by one of Pythium's forces. That may come back to haunt you. Unfortunate also to hear that Shamballac is home to Inkpot End. I once had a commander get diseased and eventually die from that place. Thanks again for an entertaining evening! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif |
Re: Game write-up
Thanks for a very nice read! I admire the effort and yet I think it would be easier to follow if you could write a quick summary of your empire every 3-4 turns (number of provinces, gold and gem income, research etc.). Just my two cents...
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Re: Game write-up
Zen: Oh yeah... Gem to money conVersions. Thanks! I think I'll do a little of that. I forgot all about that option.
Targa: Yeah, I set Naggor to immediately retreat. I don't think they got hold of the talisman though, because Naggor later got to spy on another battle against neutrals, and they didn't use it there. I might have to convert some gems to death gems and make another... Patrik: You're welcome. Good idea about the summary. I'll start doing that at the end of every one of my writeups (which seems to encompass 3-5 turns). I might get to play this evening, but don't count on it... |
Re: Game write-up
All right. I know how to guarantee a fight with the enemy army. If I take his capital, he will come after me. I must decisively take out his army before it grows much larger. The current situation is as follows. The First Army (led by Lu Tung-Pin the Immortal and Ru Shou the Minister of Rituals) are in Grey Mirks (3). This is adjacent to Pythium (5) and Acyste (125). The latter is the current location of the Pythium army. The Second Army (led by Zi-yu the Eunuch) is slight smaller than the First Army, and is currently in Shamballac (118). This is also adjacent to Acyste. It is also adjacent to Keban (111). Keban is my one large tax producer other than my capital, and is currently guarded by a size 21 defense force.
The enemy army currently has only 5 options. 1) Move to Pythium. 2) Attack my First Army in Grey Mirks. 3) Attack my Second Army (along with Tai) in Shamballac. 4) Attack Keban. 5) Stay where it's at. I doubt that the enemy army will stay where it's at, given the enemy tendancy to enjoy marching its armies around. I strongle suspect that it will not attack my First or Second Armies, as those are both of significant size, and he would likely not be confident of winning. This means that he will most likely head for Pythium or Keban. I doubt he will head for Pythium, as he would probably recognize this to be abondoning Acyste to my armies. Therefore, despite Keban's decent defenses, I suspect he will head there. Here is my plan then. The First army will attack his relatively small force in Pythium. The Second Army will move with Tai up into Grey Mirks. The following turn they will move into Pythium to reinforce the First Army. The enemy will presumably take Keban at the same time I take Pythium. This will cause him to immediately turn and head for home. In order to retake Keban as quickly as possible, I will form the Third Army under command of Lu-xing the Eunuch. Unfortunately, they have only had time to put together a force of 17 men (9 Archers, and 8 Imperial Footmen). This should be sufficient to retake Keban after the enemy deserts it. Lu-xing will move east from T'ien Ch'i via Sleepy Mountains. I will build a single Heavy Infantry in Keban to do all I can to help the defense there. I don't expect to win, but for 10 gold, I just might do a little more damage to his army. T'ien Ch'i will purchase 4 Imperial Footmen and 5 Archers. I increase the local defense in Bithyne (102) to 21 to hopefully keep Vanheim from attacking from Gol Phalas (91). I am also concerned by the apparent buildup of troops in Whirling Sea off the coast of the underdefended Lombaria (120). Therefore, with the help of a little alchemy, I convert some gems to gold and increase their defense to 21. With my remaining gold, Grey Mirks' defense is increased to 11. Now, we sit back and see if my analysis of the enemy is correct. ******************** Turn: 15 There are some unexpected battles this turn... The Second Defense of Grey Mirks Interestingly enough, it appears that Pythium split its forces (something I definitely didn't expect) either that, or he's sent some troops down from further up north. This army is somewhat small, but features the following units: 1 Hydra *gulp*, 7 Heavy Infantry, 1 Serpent Cataphract, 2 Hastatus, 1 Theurg Acolyte, and Grom Brave Breaker the Captain. Happily for me, all of his units have nicely lined up behind his hydra. I look forward to watching them all choke to death on the poisonous fumes (dang, must have been some baaaad chili). Standing against the enemy is a number of local defenders (Footmen and Heavy Infantry) backed by my Second Army and Tai himself. I really wish I'd set up some nifty spells for Tai to cast. I guess we'll just have to hope he can do a decent job. Unfortunately, my Archers start the battle by taking ono the enemy Infantry wading through the poison, rather than taking on the Hydra. Yikes! This could hurt... Just about the time the Hydra hits the front rank of local defenders, Tai successfully casts Horror Mark on the Hydra. Heh... Could be useful if I lose the battle. A few turns later, the only enemy not running for its life is the Hydra and the Theurg Acolyte. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like anyone will try and take the Acoglyte, and we sure aren't making headway against the Hydra. This looks grim. My Infantry turns to run, being chased by the angray Hydra. Finally my Archers figure out the right target and start doing some minimal damage to the huge beast. Unfortunately, despite their best efforst, my men are finally routed by the Hydra. To make matters worse, Tai appears to have overexerted himself, and is just sitting there watching his men stream past him while the Hydra approaches. Fortunately, just before the Hydra arrives, he recovers sufficiently, and the remaining men escape off the board. After tallying up the dead, I discover that along with the province of Grey Mirks, I have lost 16 men. I managed to kill 1 enemy commander and 8 regular units (well, actually, the Hydra probably did that himself). To make things worse, the First Army no longer can expect reinforcements in the siege on Pythium. Speaking of Pythium... The Battle for Pythium It appears that the First Army is up against a large number of Slingers, Militia, and a half dozen Velites. Oh, and a Centurion or two to lead them. I don't expect this to be difficult. Sure enough, after three volleys, the enemy Slingers are routed. The remaining ground troop push forwards towards my advancing Imperial Footmen. They are met by another deadly hail of arrows and the brutal efficiency of my Footmen. They immediately turn tail and run. The Velites and leaders are still approaching, but they won't Last long. Sure enough, as the Footmen press forward, and arrows rain down from above, it doesn't take long before the remaining enemies turn and run. We are victorious, and we didn't lose a single man. The Defense of Keban Sure enough, the enemy definitely split his army. We're dealing with a very confused mix of all sorts of different units. Facing this motley bunch is a group of local defenders, and a single Heavy Infantry man representing the capital. We might actually win this one... It's pretty much a straight vicious melee the whole way, with only a few arrows coming from my side of the field. Unfortunately, though I cause significant wounds on a number of the enemy, they are just too tough. I kill 6 of them, but the remainder capture the province. As the map comes up, I look around, adjust taxes, and taking in the new situation... On the plus side, the troops off the coast in Whirling Sea seem to have dissipated. Same with the troops down in Gol Phalas. That's certainly a load off my mind. On the bad side, my First Army (now accompanied by Tai, who chose to flee to that province) is now completely surrounded by hostile provinces. In addition, more enemy forces will be coming up from the south as Pythium sends its army from Keban to help retake its capital. While I'm thinking of it, I set my archers to attack large creatures, and I set Tai to cast a couple rounds of Desiccation. Maybe with a little luck I'll fatigue that Hydra enough that my Archers can finish it off. Lu-xing and the Third Army continues heading east into Keban. Hopefully it will be deserted when they move in next turn. Zi-yu and two men from the Second Army retreated south to Lombaria. They will head south into T'ien Ch'i and pick up some more men in order to reform the Second Army. I purchase 4 Imperial Footmen and 6 Archers. The real question now is what to do with my First Army. They've done so well so far... I think with my Archers targetted on the Hydra I might be able to take it out. Of course, if not, everyone there will die, since I'm surrounded. That would most likely signal the end for me. On the other hand, if I can win this fight, I'll most likely be able to completely finish off Pythium's armies... It's very tempting... Oooooh... What the heck. They'll stay put. It's definitely a big risk, but the payoff could be huge. We just need to take out that Hydra. I save the remaining 150 gold for next turn, and with that, we sit back to watch the fireworks. ******************** Turn: 16 The Second Battle for Keban As expected there is only a very small token force of local defenders here. Despite the small size of the Third Army, we are able to drive off the Pythium defenders, and the provinces is ours once more without any losses. The Defense of Shamballac Interesting. It appears that the army that was in Keban decided to move north into Shamballac, rather than straight north into Acyste (and from there to Pythium). Unfortunately, we only have minimal defenders here, and are quickly trampled beneath the hooves of a sizeable unit of Heavy Cavalry. Where on earth did those come from?!?! He only had one turn there in Keban to build them... There's no way he could have had the resources to build all that... hmmm... Well, the province is lost. I hope all his units get sick and die there... Maintaining the Siege at Pythium This is it, supposedly the big one. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you view it), the Hydra neglected to show up. The First Army is attacked by another scraggly band of various unit types (led by Pythium's prophet). Fighting against a very scattered enemy, my Archers aren't very effective. Fortunately, my Imperial Footmen do quite nicely. In an amazing display of luck, one shot from Tai's Fire Flies spell manages to hit the Pythium prophet just before the Pythium army routes. Pythium's prophet happens to be a berserker, and this cause him to charge my troops. We all laugh, set our spears, and take him on. He puts up a surprisingly good fight (what with his 19 protection), but at Last he goes down. Take that! We killed 2 enemy commanders (including his prophet) and 8 regular units. We only lost 3 regular units (mostly Archers, when one of those snake rider guys rushed into our back territories). Once I get to the map, I again adjust a couple tax rates. I notice with some horror that Vanheim has now taken Winter Peaks (95). This is a province that is also adjacent to Bithyne. Not good. The Seoncd Army in T'ien Ch'i is able to fill back up to 21 men. That's not great, but perhaps with the Third Army they can help reinforce the First and take out Pythium's capital. I go ahead and pump up Keban's defenses to 21. I'll need this as a deterrent. Then the Second and Third Armies both move into Shamballac. Yu the Master of the Way moves along with the Second Army to provide some spell support. I equip him with my single robe of missile protection (just in case). I'm a little concerned that Pythium will attack Lombaria (which is only defended by 21 local defenders), but I really need the Second and Third Armies to join together, so they'll have to meet in Shamballac. The First Army will continue to hold at Pythium. ******************** Turn: 17 The Battle for Shamballac Apparently Pythium's army feels no rush to get up and defend its capital. I'd expected the force that conquored the province to have moved on, but it's still there... This could be a tough fight. The enemy Heavy Cavalry moves directly forward into my Imperial Footmen. They pretty much shrug off the arrow my Archers send their way. A vicious melee develops, and before long, half of my Imperial Footmen break ranks and run. At this, the enemy sweeps around both ends of line of my Footmen, slaughtering them. They head for my Archers who desperately attempt to bring down the charging horsemen. Amazingly enough, after having taken out a few of the Archers, the Cavalry is sent running back the way it came. Of course, half the remaining Archers are also running for their lives. Moments after this, Scipio the Serpent Lord sends the remainder of the Second and Third army running for their lives. By the final count, I lost 1 commander and 28 regular units. I only managed to kill 9 enemy units. Maintaining the Siege at Pythium This time the enemy Hydra has shown up. Accompanying him are 2 Theurg Acolytes, a Theurg Communicant, a single Hastatus, and 2 Emerald Guard. Victory will depend on taking down the Hydra. As the battle starts, I realize that Tai did not cast Dessicate. Oops. Must be that it requires gems to cast. Ah well. I guess he'll have to wing it. The battle is vicious. My Footmen valiantly charge forward to take on the Hydra while shaft after shaft from the Archer is sent against the beast. With its astounding regeneration rate of 15 hit points per turn, it looks grim. At Last, after having sent the surviving three Footmen running for their lives, the Archers manage a Last volley that brings the thing down. After that, a couple volleys of arrows send the Last surviving enemy fleeing for his life. We've won, but we won't have any infantry units left... Definitely time to bring the First Army home. At least we took out that Hydra. I take a look around the map. Things look very grim. Vanheim has taken Iron Range (106). This province borders on Keban and Sleepy Mountains (which has no defense). I fully expect Vanheim to take Sleepy Mountains next turn, cutting off T'ien Ch'i from Keban. There's really nothing I can do about this. Shamballac is still held by a rather ugly force of mixed units led by that Heavy Cavalry unit. I have nothing in the area that can challenge it. On the plus side, their troops should be getting diseased while they're sitting there. Pythium is using Acyste to raise an army of Shamblers (as the often ignore Naggor reports). Fortunately, they have less than 10 of them so far. Yu the Master of the Way and two Archers have fled to Lombaria. Lu-xing the Eunuch has retreated to T'ien Ch'i, where I am able to put 13 men under his command. In the midst of all these bad tidings, something occurs to me. As nasty as that hydra is, I wonder if that was Pythium's pretender. I don't have enough experience to know if a Hydra is one of the possible pretender forms. If so, I have a chance to pull this off. As far as I can tell, Pythium only has 3 provinces left with any kind of Dominion. All three are at only a -1. Tai the Arch Mage (my own Pretender) is current sitting in the middle of these three provinces. If he can convert those provinces, then Pythium might just vanish... That might give me the chance I need against the approaching Vanheim. I think at this point, that's my best option. Of course, the First Army no longer has any Infantry units. That could be really really bad. Fortunately, Pythium has never seemed to have a lot of ranged units, so I might get lucky and pull it off. I go ahead and remove Tai's spell casting orders and discover that dessication doesn't require gems, but only has a range of 10. No wonder he wouldn't cast it. Yu moves back to T'ien Ch'i. Keban recruits a commander, and T'ien Ch'i brings in its usual assortment of troops (plus a Celestial Master). I then boost the defense in Keban to 25 (I need to keep that gold). And with that, another turn ends. I cross my fingers and generate the next turn. ******************** I think I'll stop there for now. Nothing like a little suspence to heighten the tension. I'll provide a summary of the current state of my empire. Provinces: 6 (apparently counting Pythium) Income: 362 Gem Income: 4 Air, 1 Water, 2 Earth, 5 Astral Research: 18 points per turn (really bad, I know, I'm second from Last in research) Dominion: 19 Army Size: 3rd from Last Upkeep: 58 All in all, things are looking very bad. I'll most likely end up losing sometime soon here. |
Re: Game write-up
Turn: 18
Things are definitely not looking up. In T'ien Ch'i, a demon possessed a herd of swine and ravaged the province for a week. That can't be good. Maintaining the Siege at Pythium Pythium frantically tries to break my seige at his capital. But he only brings along 4 Light Infantry, 1 Archer, and a Centurion to command them. Even without any infantry, I am able to dispatch the threat without losing a man, or even breaking a sweat. The Defense of T'ien Ch'i Interestingly enough, the Heavy Cavalry unit which has been pestering my troops so much decided to try and assault my capital. There are 7 of the Heavy Cavalry, plus their captain. As the battle begins, my hoarde of Footmen charge forward to meet the enemy Cavalry. My Footmen take heavy losses, and half of them route. Fortunately, the remainder manage to convince the enemy to retreat, and I retain control of the province. I take stock of the current situation, since it's been a while since I've played. Things definitely do not look good. The First Army is sitting in Pythium without any melee units. They definitely need to be reinforced. Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to eliminate the enemy dominion like I'd hoped. The Second Army, reformed under the leadership of Lu-xing the Eunuch, is pretty much at full strength, and is ready to move out of T'ien Ch'i. I will attempt to move them north to reinforce the First Army. Their likely route will be through Grey Mirks, which reports say is only defended by Militia. I will move them through Shamballac in order to retake that province. I will send Yu the Master of the Way along with them for some spell support. In the south, Vanheim appears to have no interest in taking my Sleepy Mountains province. His armies have left the adjacent Iron Range and has moved on. This gives me a chance to put minimal provincial defenses in Sleepy Mountains as a minor deterrant. I recruit three Imperial Footmen and 4 Archers in T'ien Ch'i. I also recruit a commander in Keban. I take advantage of the high resources in Sleepy Mountains to recruit a pair of Heavy Infantry. I save the remaining 200 gold in order to try and save up to purchase a Celestial Master next turn. The First Army I leave in place, beseiging the walls of Pythium, since Pythium doesn't yet seem prepared to attack in force. ******************** Turn: 19 The Second Battle for Shamballac There is only a small group of militia holding this province. The Second Army is able to sweep aside the resistance without any incidences of note. My losses are a single Imperial Footman to friendly fire. Maintaining the Siege at Pythium The First Army is attacked by another group of 13 men with an assortment of weapons. They have no ranged attackers or mages, and so my Archers strike at them as they advance across the entire length of the field. Within just a couple turns, their army is routed, and by the time they retreat out of sight they have lost 6 men. After purchasing some local defenders, the Second Army heads north into Grey Mirks. The First Army will stay put. I note with some pleasure that the presence of Tai in Pythium has finally resulted in the conVersion of that dominion to my own. That is useful. I recruit single Heavy Infantry in Shamballac, Keban, and Sleepy Mountains. In addition, T'ien Ch'i recruits a Celestial Master, 4 Imperial Footmen, and 4 Archers. I will at some point send a commander around to collect the units being produced in small numbers by the various provinces. Seeing that Vanheim will apparently not be assaulting Sleepy Mountains, I drop their tax rate back down to a reasonable level from its former point of 200. Hanifel the Commander (previously recruited in Keban) will head up the new Third Army. He begins touring the provinces, rounding up the scattered units being produced. Naggor continues to keep an eye out in Acyste. It appears that Pythium has switched over from producing Shamblers and has cranked out some Light Infantry. Good. I don't have time to deal with them yet... ******************** Turn: 20 Some interesting news in Sleep Mountains. A group of zealots have joined my cause. Despite their light armor and weapons, they just might be of some use. In addition there was a large market in that province, and I gained a tax revenue of 100 gold. Excellent! Maintaining the Siege at Pythium Uh oh... It looks like they finally decided to bring in a large force to break the seige. I wish it had waited one turn, as then I'd have had the reinforcements from the Second Army. My Archers spend all their time attempting to fire at an approaching Heavy Cavalry. As a result, I don't even manage to get a single kill by the time my army is routed. At the final count, I have lost three Archers. The Third Battle for Grey Mirks We're up against a very large force of Militia and some Slingers. I expect that our Archers will make quick work of them. We manage to chase off the Militia and Slingers before any hand-to-hand fighting breaks out. What remains are a pair of Heavy Infantry and a single Commander. These go down fairly quickly as well, although we do lose another Imperial Footman to friendly fire. I'm starting to think one of the Archers is a traitor... Fortunately, the First Army was able to retreat from Pythium into Grey Mirks to meet up with the approaching Second Army. Boy, if Pythium had broken the siege only one turn earlier, I'd have lost the entire First Army, including Tai... In T'ien Ch'i, I am tempted to fork out the big bucks for a Prince General. I need a larger army, and he can command 75 men. Then I realize that I now have enough fire gems to create a Scepter of Command. So, I recruit another Eunuch, and set Song Di (my new Celestial Master) to building the Scepter. I also recruit 4 Imperial Footmen and 5 Archers in T'ien Ch'i. I continue building individual single units in other provinces (all Heavy Infantry, except for Grey Mirks which is able to produce 2 Heavy Infantry and 3 Archers). I realize that off to my south, Gol Phalas (once owned by Vanheim) has been taken over by Ulm. This looks like a good opportunity, and I send the Third Army down into Iron Range to take the apparently defenseless province from Vanheim. The Third Army had taken on the fanatic Flagellant that had recently appeared, so they shouldn't have many problems. In Grey Mirks, I transfer all of the troops from the Second Army to the First Army. This gives Lu Tung-Pin command of 31 Archers and 7 Imperial Footmen. I then change the Archers' orders to target large monsters. This is because Naggor in Acyste has spotted that Pythium has apparently acquired at least a couple elephants. I move the Imperial Footmen so that they are not right in front of the Archers, and then I send the First Army into Acyste along with Ru Shou the Minister of Rituals. Lu-xing the Eunuch and Yu the Master of the Way will move into Shamballac to begin reforming the Second Army from the individual units being recruited around the empire. Tai will stay in place to search Grey Mirks for magic sites. I really doubt that Pythium will attack Grey Mirks this turn. I will also increase the local defense. ******************** Turn: 21 To my joy, Tai is able to find two magic sites in Grey Mirks. One is a Crystal Citadel, giving 1 astral pearl, and 1 earth gem and also allowing me to recruit Crystal Mages. The other is a Boiling Bog, which produces 1 fire gem and 1 water gem. The Crystal Citadel has also provided a decent fort and a laboratory. Wow! What an excellent find! I'll definitely need to defend that province. The Battle for Iron Range There are only 5 local defenders here, and I am able to destroy them while only losing 3 of my Flagellants. The Defense of Keban Oh shoot. Looks like the elephants (apparently a mercenary force) came down here instead of waiting to be taken by my First Army. There are a total of 6 elephants (one a leader) against my force of primarily local defenders. Fortunately, I do have about a half dozen Archers, and they get right to work, wounding a couple elephants. Amazingly enough, my Footmen are able to attack and kill an elephant while only taking minimal losses, and with that, the elephants turn and route off the field with my troops in pursuit. To make me even happier, the First Army apparently cut their escape route behind them, and the entire enemy force is lost! Yes! The Battle for Acyste As expected, the defenders consisted merely of Slingers and Militia. My large force of Archers is able to route the defenders before they get even half way across the field. I take the province without losing a single man. To make this turn an even more glorious one, I realize that a barbarian army has attacked the province of Pythium, and forced the defenders inside the castle. This is extremely good news, as Pythium was the site of their largest army. With them tied up there, I will be able to move troops around without having to be so concerned about keeping my provinces defended! With so many options opened up. I decide to take another break to consider what my next step will be. ******************** Well, things certainly turned around quickly. Suddenly Vanheim is no longer a concern (although I will have to watch out for Ulm. In addition, it really looks like I'll be able to go around Pythium and take all of his other provinces. This will allow me to lay siege to his castle and keep him bottled up at my own pace. Things are definitely looking up. Here's a summary of my current status. Provinces: 9 Income: 339 (should go up a decent bit as I subdue some unrest) Gem Income: 3 Fire, 4 Air, 2 Water, 3 Earth, 6 Astral Research: 27 points per turn (yes, I'm still second to Last, but I may be able to devote some more gold to mages here pretty soon) Dominion: 19 (this too should start going up as I take provinces from Pythium) Army Size: 5th in size, but only about 25% the size of the largest (Ermor) Upkeep: 96 |
Re: Game write-up
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Re: Game write-up
Yes it's an event http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif
There are alot of 'hidden' events if you take certain scales that you normally would not. (Particularly Drain/Magic, Death/Growth, Order/Turmoil). They have the basic same effects (akin to a Barbarian Raid, in this instance) just slightly different implementation http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif [ February 16, 2004, 00:05: Message edited by: Zen ] |
Re: Game write-up
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Re: Game write-up
mercenaries
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Re: Game write-up
Having upgraded to 1.08, I'm ready to start hitting Pythium where it hurts...
Turn: 21 Ok, the first step will be to send Naggor into Pythium so that I can keep an eye on the situation there. The First Army will move from Acyste over to Grey Mirks. From there they will be heading north into Bergamum (13). This is one of Pythium's provinces. The First Army will attempt to take as many of Pythium's other provinces before moving into to lay seige to the capitol. Unfortunately, despite my intentions, Lu-xing and Yu of the Second Army neglected to move out from Grey Mirks Last turn. So, I give them command of the Heavy Infantry and Archers produced in Grey Mirks Last turn, and move them into Shamballac to have them begin picking up troops from around the empire. Tai will move from Grey Mirks into Acyste where he will search for magical sites. I don't expect him to be attacked there, as the only enemy-held province adjacent is Pythium which is currently under siege by neutral barbarians. Grey Mirks will recruit 4 Imperial Footmen to supplement the First Army when it arrives. Acyste will produce 7 Shamblers to begin building a force which will allow me to begin assaulting the nearby water provinces. I'll want to try and take on R'lyeh sometime, but I might go for the sea on the east first, as it appears to be unoccupied. T'ien Ch'i recruits 2 Red Guard. Now that I have a second castle with a fairly strong resource base, I think the time is right to begin build a good heavy cavalry unit. In order to pay for all this, I convert my stock of about a dozen earth gems to gold. Fu Xi the Master of the Way begins forging a Ring of Water Breathing for the commander who will be leading the Shamblers. I also decide to take further advantage of Vanheim being attacked by Ulm, and send the Third Army into Winter Peaks (95). This province is heald theoretically only by a single Einhere. I'm not sure what that is, but I think it's a demon, and shouldn't be too tough to take out. Lastly, Zhong kui the Eunuch takes control of 11 Imperial Footmen and 13 Archers in T'ien Ch'i, thus forming the Fourth Army. I send them north into Lombaria. From there they'll be headed up into Grey Mirks to assist with the disposal for Pythium. ******************** Turn: 22 It appears that Pythium is finally able to declare a prophet. Somehow I doubt that Scipio the Serpent Lord will live for too long. Keban is subject to a wave of religious zeal, and I have a group of Militia to supplement one of my armies. In Acyste, a hurricane strikes. I'm not exactly sure of the effects of that... The Battle for Winter Peaks Ok, it looks like an Einhere is just a fanatical berserker. He is accompanied by 4 Huscarls and a Herse to lead them. This shouldn't be too difficult. My Flagellants sweep in from the side just before my Heavy Infantry hits the enemy from the front. The Flagellants fight quite well, qiuckly killing all but two of the Huscarls, sending them fleeing. Only one Flagellant is lost in the process. Winter Peaks is mine. I am also given the chance (thanks to Naggor) to watch a fight between Pythium and the Independants. Unfortunately, the Independant Barbarians are pretty well outmatched, and they are chased off. Pythium only loses a Commander and a couple of Light Infantry. Ah well. I take a look to see what forces are available in Pythium. To my dismay, Naggor reports that they've picked up another Hydra. In addition, there are a number of Light Infantry, and of course, Nin the Great Enchantress who is Pythium's Pretender. This concerns me, because to their eyes, Acyste (without any local defenses) may look like a tempting target. Tai of course will be searching for magic sites there this turn. Therefore, I put the Shamblers under Tai's control and direct them all to retreat in case of attack. The Fourth Army will be moving into Grey Mirks this turn. I'll probably have them defend Grey Mirks, as I really don't want to lose that province with it's Crystal Citadel. The First Army will move north into Bergamum (13) this turn. Pythium has a temple there which I'm looking forward to destroying. The province appears to be defended by only 4 units, most of which are probably shamblers. The Archers of the First Army should have no problems dispatching them. Grey Mirks will recruit 2 Imperial Footmen and 4 Archers. I'll need to crank out a good solid force there quickly, as Pythium now has free rein to attack into my provinces again. The Second Army (Lu-xing and Yu) will move southeast into Keban. There they will take control of the Light Infantry. Then they'll probably move north into Acyste to help bolster the apparent defenses (hopefully preventing Pythium from attacking). After recruiting another 2 Red Guard in T'ien Ch'i, I'm left with only 25 gold. Rather than probably wasting it on Acyste (in case they get attacked this turn), I will instead bolster the defenses in Winter Peaks. Once I build it up a little higher, I can send the Third Army into Farseer Mountains (96), as Vanheim doesn't appear to have left any defending troops. I'm a little concerned that Ulm has chosen to move a force of 30 Archers and Infantry into Gol Phalas. Fortunately, my neighboring province of Bithyne as a defence of 21, while Vanheim's neighboring province of Ephesibor appears to have no defenders. Hopefully Ulm will move east instead of north. I also note that having taken Winter Peaks I now can see the province of Vanheim to the southeast. I of course will not be attacking it, but it's good to know that Vanheim doesn't appear to have expanded much. ******************** This is a good stopping point for now. Things should heat up again here pretty quick, especially if Pythium sends his Hydra down into my territory. Fortunately, I'm starting to get a decent number of forces up in that area, which may cause him to hold back for now. Provinces: 10 Income: 367 Gem Income: 3 Fire, 4 Air, 2 Water, 3 Earth, 6 Astral Research: 35 points per turn (Research is looking a little better. Right now I'm focused on getting to Construction 4 (only 2 more turns) after that, I'm not sure where I'll head. No change in my relative research rate. Fortunately, it doesn't appear that anyone has really been building up their research departments. All of the slopes on the research graph are fairly stable.) Dominion: 21 (expect to see this continue growing) Army Size: tied for 3rd place (getting 42 Militia will do that; fortunately these will help deter attacks by Pythium until I can get real forces in the area) Upkeep: 139 |
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