[RedRover]

TURN 20
C’tis does seem to be south. No capital yet, but two more provinces with Temples. He does move in my direction with some of his force—I count 9 Militia on the east side of the bridge after he takes out the independents, and no Tomb Worms. I must fortify here as quickly as possible. I can’t put off building another turn.

Orion joined, so the attack (northwest) is on. After I take these two provinces, it looks like I’ll have to backtrack and start working the far north. C’tis has sealed off the east, the only other crossing is about two provinces northeast of my northern force. I take a minute to reorganize armies.

The new “First Army” is at the east bridge with the Prophet. It’s still something of a paper army until the Abysians from the old Second Army join it. By that time, the new Citadel will be up and pumping out cheap halfbreed spearmen. The new “Second Army” is the northern force. It consists of Hector, Orion, and two understrength spear units. It is attacking with no magic support (other than Orion) but a Lizard Shaman is on the way. I’ll probably delay him long enough to build a Temple somewhere—I need some cheap, weak Priests to bolster the army, aid province defense, and chat up the locals. “Third Army” is building in the capital, currently a dozen halfbreed spearmen and three Abysian Infantry (also a half dozen archers I raised during the blood hunts, but they’re more of a castle guard). I need to double this force and add a Salamander and a half dozen more Abysian Infantry before sending them anywhere.

Scores: For provinces, I’m still third, but static, while everyone else is growing. Not good. For income, I’ve dropped to second, below Ulm; Man is behind me, and accelerating. Not good. For gems, I’m still fifth, but Man has caught up to me. In research, I am sixth, but catching up to three, four, and five. No one is catching Man any time soon, and Arco is so far ahead they’ve more than doubled everyone except Man. In dominion, I am third and accelerating. I will pass C’tis soon; Caelum is ahead of us, but static; Man and Oceania are not only at the bottom of the heap, but fading. For army size, C’tis just hyperaccelerated past Man to grab first place. I’m in last place, but at least my rate of growth is higher than Ulm (third) or Oceania (seventh). Overall, it’s not looking so good.

TURN 21
Pressure’s on. C’tis parked 60 Ghouls and Tomb Worms on my doorstep, and I have only a handful of troops to meet them. The province defense (PD) is up to 25, backed by the Prophet, a Druid, and a Salamander priest. The Abysian Infantry is still two turns out, but the Manticore can get there now. I build junk archers. I think I will not see Construction 4 before the hordes of C’tis attack. Now I need money and troops, and the only way to get those is to get land. I find the C’tis capital, it is on the map edge several provinces southeast of the bridge.

While the new Second Army moves through Godsgrave Pass (how appropriate!) against a Militia/Light Infantry force, the half-built Third Army moves northwest from the capital. We may see a combined attack on the Amazons soon. Elsewhere, I hire Urgek and his Beast Brothers, who will combine with one spear unit and the Lizard Shaman to expand into the far north/northeast. My Demonbred will pop in the first Devil next turn, but the blood hunting came up dry this turn. I have enough slaves in reserve to get three or four Devils. I am relying far too much on mercenaries, but I haven’t been able to ramp up production of national troops yet.