[AStott]

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.