[RedRover]

TURN 34
Well, this turn the secret is out! C’tis hasn’t been pushing into the north because the last river line is blocked by a huge independent: the Earth Mother--with 110 Vine Men, Vine Ogres, and Dryads. The last two independent provinces near me that are mine if I can take them before C’tis takes out this block. My attack this turn is successful, but I lost all my Lizard Warriors. Fortunately, this is a Lizard Man province, so I’ll soon have enough fodder to take on the 30 Heavy Horse in the last independent province to the southwest.

In the west, the whole Green Horde is gone, only the Salamander and Devils remain! It was my own fault. I left the commanders in their default positions and the Demonbred heat effect set the Horde commander on fire. Gah! I deserve that for playing into the wee hours. However, other foot troops are close enough so I can finally clear the Heavy Horse out of the last province adjacent to my capital next turn. All my mercs renew this month; I wonder if I’ll lose any more of them. I recruit an Amazon Sorceress.

In the northwest, I try a risky attack with Orion and some common spearmen. I’ve been sitting only one province short of where I was considering a base, and it’s guarded only by Militia. I’ll try a defensive tactical setup and see if they impale themselves on it.

By the east bridge C’tis is back, with 70 Ghouls and Tomb Guards. I’m not worried if this is all they bring up.


TURN 35
I have very few reserves of Astral or Nature gems; I’ve been burning them off doing remote scrying. I’m going to stop this for a while—I have a feeling I’m going to want these gems before long. I also need to forge at least one Thistle Mace to upgrade a Druid. However, remote viewing pays off. I increase by 3 Astral and 2 Fire gems. And Pythium just declared war on me.

In the northeast, I mass for my next attack. I strip the new fort of troops to form a second prong for the assault. On examination, I discover that the river line blocked by the Earth Mother is more porous than I thought: C’tis can cross into my target province from the south! I would hate for my attack to run into a block of 90 C’tis. Turns out, that chance is remote…

…because across the east bridge, C’tis gathers 110 troops! I build some more Abysian Infantry and Woodland Archers in the fort, and summon two Fire Drakes to help hold the line. All wizards are issued gems.

In the northwest, on the western continent, the river assault was successful; I have my site (now I just need the money to develop it). It has a black candle, so I leave Orion to preach, while the other leader scrambles back a province to retrieve some routed troops. I wonder if the candle is Pythium coming? Also, barbarians have struck deep into my northwest territories, taking my Earth gem site. *pain*

The west (coastal) army stops to rebuild. The Demonbred and Devils return to the capital to pick up more infernal troops. Next turn they will clean out the barbarians. I need a Salamander to set up a Temple in the Amazon province so I can get an Amazon Priestess. Across the river south of the capital, I am also seeing black candles. It might be C’tis, Pythium, or maybe someone else.

I’ve been trying to build more internal Temples recently. I divert enough funds for the Prophet to build one in the first magic site. I also have a Salamander on the way to rebuild the Lizard Lab that burned down.

Scores: For provinces, Ulm is ahead, I am second, followed by C’tis and Man; no change. For income, it’s Ulm, me, Man, and Caelum. I am declining here, probably due to blood hunts and some bad unrest randoms. For gem income, Ulm and C’tis are tied, I am third and accelerating past Oceania, which is declining. For research, Arco soars, while Caelum has shot sharply past Man. I’m still sixth, in a third tier pack that includes Oceania, Pythium, and me. For dominion Caelum is still first, but Ulm has almost caught up. C’tis is third and climbing. I’m fourth and stagnant. Pythium is behind me and will catch up unless I raise more Temples. Man, Oceania, and Arcoscephale are far behind and in decline, the last two sharply so.

(Oops, forgot armies—I trail badly, last I think.)



TURN 36
If I want a base on the west continent, my northwest force (Orion) has to start it this turn. Caelum territory is about three provinces west and Man territory is about three provinces south. I have barely enough money to start construction, but would it be stretching my resources too far? I decide to risk it.

The west coast force is stuck; too weak to advance without the Devils. I discover I miscounted, the Devils can’t reach the Barbarians this turn, so they go as far as they can. Blood hunts dried up last turn, so no Devil this turn. Maybe Devil next turn.

C’tis pulls away from the east river fort again. OK with me. I think I can grind up anything he can send in the next few turns. I’m going to put the east bridge theater on hold for now. Incidentally, my Scout did not get past their capital. We hold brief services.

The north just turned messy. C’tis is across the river up here. If I attack my independent province target and win, we have a one-province front. Worst case is we try for the same province and he comes in second with a bigger army.

I’m going for it. Worse news is that Bogus the Troll has showed up and besieged my north base! No reinforcements, no gem restocks, and the expeditionary force has no way home. Great. If enough Celestials survive the coming battle, then that might be enough to get rid of the raiders, otherwise, the siege is a lo-o-ong march from anywhere I have troops.



TURN 37
In the northwest, scouts are trying to track down the capitals of Caelum and Man. When I get a chance, I’ll make more scouts for this area. There is a special magic site here (number four), near my base location, but the way in is limited, and I’m not positioned well for it; Man is closest.

On the coast, the Devils go in unsupported against the barbarians. The Amazon Sorceress is at the north (third) magic site and is searching. I am consolidating ground troops in the large coastal city for an advance down the coast; also hunting blood here.

In the north, the raiders are actually damaging my fort. I grab the Celestials and other troops and send them back to break up the siege if they can—it’s a long walk, though.

Elsewhere, I concentrate on infrastructure, building two Temples and a Lab. Oh, yes, an Arena fight (to ignore) begins.


TURN 38
Aha! The Amazon Sorceress found an E1D1 source at the magic site three. Finally! And oops! Forgot to renew my mercs! They’re all gone now. Rexor just appeared, so I will have to break the Bogus block with his barbarians. I don’t think this will work, though. I have to handle this personally—the Manticore moves out.

Typically, someone (Caelum in this case) sends their Pretender to the Arena fight: Wyrm with a Ring of Tamed Lightning. Ooch.

It worked, Caelum nailed two enemy Prophets. Idiots. Maybe I’ll buff and ambush the sucker next time there’s an Arena fight. I’ll need protection against poison…but is a Champion’s Trident worth it? And do I get it if my misc magic slots are filled? And if I don’t, am I forced back into the next Arena fight? I may do it just to test this.

In the northwest, with Orion gone, I have to commit the Devils. They are on their way, but I have to build a second unit or I won’t have a strategic reserve. I need another two Demonbred, one to build and one to lead, and probably at least one more Apprentice to blood hunt. This turn yielded lots of slaves. I could probably afford a Sanguine Rod or two now, which would improve my hunting. Also, I could use two or three more researchers.

My big global is at Evocation 8 (Second Sun), and I really need to be targeting it now. Also, now that I’m getting gems, it may be time to think about better magic items. Starting now, I split my research between Enchantment and Evocation. At Enchantment 5 (the Dispel spell), I will switch to Construction. At Construction 4 (Major Items), I will switch to Blood (Archdevils). So much for theory, we’ll see how this two-school advance plan works. I’ll phase into it as soon as I complete current work on my infrastructure.


TURN 39
A bad turn. The west coast force, Army Four, was destroyed and all three leaders slain! My fault for not sending in a spy to count numbers, the intelligence report was low again (like I had a spare spy!). I still killed about 35 of 50 defenders, but it will take me several turns to rebuild and several more to get into position to try this again.

In the northwest, I lost a Scout to Man, so I am effectively blind until another one gets here. Figure three moves. The Devils arrive. Since the Boar Mage mercenary is available, I will bid on him to be here. With the Devils and local troops, this should ensure the base and give me a shot at the special site nearby. The black candle is back, but since Orion built a Temple before he left, I recruit a cheap Priest to keep the locals in line. I’m going to recruit another cheap Priest to build a Temple in the Amazon province. It would be quicker than trying to schedule a Salamander priest at the capital and walking it out.

In the north, I don’t attack the Bogus raiders yet. Next turn, the Manticore will be in position, and a Salamander priest can join the attack, too. I order a Fire Salamander and some foot in the north fort; they will break siege next turn when the attack comes in...OK, so I forgot you can’t build while under siege; sue me. The Lizard Shaman builds a Lab in the northeast corner province (Lizard Men)—more Shamans will be showing up soon, I think.

My infrastructure work is almost done for now. My tenth temple is up. I think I need one more soon, since one of my temples is especially vulnerable. I can see that C’tis is also building Temples as fast as he can. Next turn, a Warlock, maybe two.

By the east bridge, the C’tis troop mix has changed: 60 Desert Rangers and Heavy Infantry. Seems quiet, though.

Next time: One Little Indian. Stay tuned