(Yes, I have been lazy as of late. This should do for now.)
Turn 8:
Hmm. Four battles. Since I ordered four battles, this is a good sign. Let's see how they went.
Not too shabby, overall. First one ran into what looks like one point of province defense. Lost a mercenary, but took the province. The second was my new formation against some militia, which was an easy win. The mage didn't even bother casting spells. Fourth battle was one of my groups against 2 PD. Economy-wise, I lost that fight, but it is a province won, and that's worth it.
That third battle, though...
That is a LOT of PD. At least 20 of it. To add to the fun, he's got a few of Fomoria's real units in there- the Unmarked (those guys with the purple shields), a Nemedian Champion (the mirage behind them, and a Fomorian Champion (the big guy in that mob, there). The last one was probably given to him at 20 PD, but the other six units are bad news.
The Champion is...difficult... to hit. 19 defense is quite impressive. Also, see that icon with the two men on it, below his stats? That's glamour, a really irritating ability. He makes mirror images of himself, which you have to hit before actually hitting him.
(Glamour has another, more insidious use, which I wish I'd thought about at the time.)
The Unmarked are bad news. 16 protection makes it hard for mere humans to actually deal damage to them, and 35 HP means they can take whatever gets past that armor. I COULD, mind you, but there's one other problem.
(The problem with Unmarked is that they're (relatively) expensive, sacred, and cap-only. This battle has one turn's worth of the things- in that time, MY cap can pop out 6-7 BCs for each of his giants. It doesn't take much to realize that, economically speaking, fighting Marverni with Fomorians is a losing proposition.)
I didn't bring enough men.
Luckily, diplomacy was achieved. I give those two provinces back, and no war. I withdraw my men, and redirect my attentions to the north and south.
No new mercs, no new magic (I miscounted RP), and I don't have enough gold to do much recruiting. I hold on to it, planning to save up for a fort.
This turn sucks. I don't have the heart to look at graphs right now, so have a picture of what happens when your screaming barbarians don't have good accountants.
Turn 9:
As expected. The first two messages were Fomoria taking back its provinces, as per the peace we brokered. Third was me grabbing a province between him and me, and the fourth was the new party headed into the southern forest. Between them, I lost about 13 units, and gained two provinces. Acceptable losses. The Archers in White are still mine, too, which is entirely a good thing.
I don't have the funds to do much recruiting, since I want my first fort up soon. I grab another Gut, pick up an indep commander in the west, and give orders.
The group to the south is taking the forest area well enough, and the western army is being recalled for reinforcements. They'll be headed north, next.
Thaum2 finishes next turn, so I'll have to change research. Alteration will give me the keys to the castle, as it were- ways to keep my oh, so very expensive Druids alive, and make my oh, so very cheap BCs far more effective in battle.
This really isn't a big turn, because a fort is EXPENSIVE. I make 661 gold a turn now. The cheapest forts cost 800, and I've seen some cost 1200. That's two turns of NOTHING else- no recruitment, no upkeep- NOTHING. Luckily, most all of Marv's forts (each nation has a few different types of fort, each built in different terrain types) are 800-gold cheapos. Figure that my 661 income is actually 544, after unit upkeep. 544, plus the 331 I have now, is 875. I can start fort construction next turn, and that makes this one worth it.
Turn 10:
Nothing much happened this turn. Here's the details.
So Caelum prophetized a mage. Interesting. Must've wanted some more dominion- I'll have to check the graphs. That second event is quite nice- 50 more pounds of income is a good chunk of my total income right now. The unrest bothers me not, since it's on a province worth 16 gold.
News, it seems. There's Helheim to the east. Fomoria is to the south as well- how big ARE these guys?! Nothing too surprising.
(This is the point where I should've been panicking. That much land is NOT a good sign.)
Thaum2 is finished, so I set all my RP into Alteration. Alt1 will finish next turn. Now, for my biggest mistake this turn.
See this? This is a fort not being built. I forgot that my commander would take a turn to get to the build site. Painfully dumb of me.
Recruited reinforcement infantry, another mage, and PD enough to keep scouts from stealing my southern provinces. There will be construction next turn, I SWEAR!
Turn 11:
Nothing really special here. Somebody outbid me for my archers, but I'm to the point where I don't really need them any longer. The battle went smoothly, and I got hit with a dominion loss in Kratas, here.
Like I said, nothing to worry about.
This, on the other hand, sucks. Caelum has grabbed two provinces I sort of need. Worse yet, I know from diplo that he's blocking Helheim's only other way out of the NE peninsula. There will be a war there, and I don't know who with. Oh, and Pangaea is down there, too. I'd make war, but my connection to the homeland is rather weak.
CASTLE. BEING BUILT. This should've happened three turns ago.
NW expansion force is on its way, though I know that there's going to be diplo involved. R'lyeh has the tip of that peninsula. My current goal is to take some of it peacably, and aim him at Fomoria as part of a combined strike. Then take the rest in return for some of Giantland. We'll see how well that pans out.
None of the other barbarians are worth anything, I don't have the money for troops, and research is right where I want it. Another Gutuater, and that's the turn.
Turn 12:
Everything here is as expected. That first notice means that, over the next few turns, any nation that decided to create a dormant pretender god will have it appear in their capital. This would be a cause for joy and celebration... if I were one of them. More on that later. The battle was won rather cheaply, and the event was water gems.
No armies on the horizon, which is good. Right now, I'm consolidating my position- fancy-talk for 'I'm scared to get into a war, so I want to get EVERYTHING figured out first'. My western army is good enough to keep going, so I send it on, while sending my scout deeper into Fomoria. Helheim is has some DEEEEEVIOUS PLANS involving teleportation, so I'm scouting out arrival sites for him. I'll have the gold for my third fort next turn, so that's what my southern army is waiting for.
FINALLY. The time of the Druids approaches. I intend to crank one of these buggers out every turn from here on out.