Abysian Newbie Tales

[Joe Backwards]

The Abysian Saga (not really)

Got a new game. Dominions. Some guy on GoneGold loves it so I figured what the heck. I’ll try it. So here goes!

Read a little on the races. Hrm. I like T’ien Ch’I cause they seem the most normal. Big armies of shield-wearing dudes. And horses. But someone in here said they were complicated… Okay. I like the Abysians, too. Bad lava dudes. Thematically good!

So I start out. Have to make a god. Okay. I want a firey one. The Glyph thing looks firey… The rest don’t look very Abysian. So a glyph it is! I like fire, so I get nine points of that. I like dominion, so I set it up high (to 6). I put astral to four. I make my empire really hot (+2 Heat) and a little productive (+1) and a little lucky (+1). I’ve no idea why I do this, but it sounds about right. I’ll probably need a lot more luck before I’m done.

Okay, great! The Eye of the Deep scenario. I have no idea what my objectives were, so I’ll just do my best to beat up the world. I’m a glyph. Turn One. I can’t move for some reason. Oops. Let’s go through the commanders. Cerberos the Slayer sneaks east to Ecnaphale to check out the beach and the big stack of gold coins. I have an Abysian Commander named Bebel with leadership of 25 and I have 20 light infantry. I go ahead and arrange the army to set them to be at the very front of the little green battlefield thing since I want them to be mashing the foe before the foe fills them full of arrows. I set Bebel to defend since I don’t know where to attack yet. I set Glyph to research and start getting into Evocation at the Research Laboratory screen because there’s a lot of fire in that research path and if Glyph knows anything, he knows fire. I have to recruit. This is complicated. I have 400 gold and 88 resources. Hrm. Most of these army dudes take way too many resources. The commanders take mostly gold and I do need a prophet and I want a Dragon, but he’s too expensive for now so I take eight humanbred with spears to absorb all those resources before they disappear. Whew!

Turn Two. Arcoscephale has a new prophetic manticore named Jiggymonkey or something. He’ll probably beat nine kinds of hell out of me later on. Okay, current commanders. I check out my scout. He sees that Ecnaphale has 20 hostile units guarding it, mostly heavy calvary and heavy infantry. Yipes. I was about to send my scout south to Witches Copse forest, but I notice that I already know that that place has 10 light infantry guarding it. How do I know this? I have no idea, so I’ll just be happy with my limited omniscience. So I send the scout north to the Ferran Mountains. I send Bebel to beat up the 10 units in Witches Copse after loading him up with humanbred and noticing he can only handle 25 units. Hrmph. Time to hire another commander. Glyph just keeps researching… What else is he good for? I don’t like my pretender much. I recruit an Anemic Dragon priest so I can have a prophet (and he can lead 40 troops!). With him I get two heavy axemen and three humanbred with spears. Next turn.

Yay! Research in evocation is complete! There was a battle in Witches Copse. I recall that I meant to do that. I watch the battle. My 15 spearmen all ran away, but my axemen beat up the militia guys. I lost 3 units. I hope they were those cowardly spearmen. The province is now mine! I think that’s a good thing, but not real sure why. Back to my commanders… Cerberos sees the mountains are full of 20 militia. I guess these white flags are my dominion. I have quite a big patch of land worshipping me. I guess that also sometimes lets me see what a province has for defense… Let’s see what I know now. To the east, Ecnaphale is rich farmland defended by 10 heavy cavalry and infantry. To the north, the Ferran Mountain are defended by 20 militia. Also to the north, Yldmyre forest is defended by 20 barbarians. To the west, Ultima Typhia (plains) is defended by 20 barbarians. To the south I now own a Witches Copse forest. There’s also Bergamum to the south, a forest with 20 Woodsmen and Woodsmen blowpipes. Are there enough options? I think so. I send my scout to Holburg, hoping to get to some rich farmland to the northeast. I load up my new Dragon with 17 human spearmen and 2 axemen. I put the spearmen way forward and the Dragon in the back, guarded by the 2 axemen. I send the Dragon and Bebel with this spearmen cowards to Ecnaphale to take on the 10 spearmen. What?!? I notice Bebel only has one spearmen left! He had 15 when he attacked Witches Copse. The battle report said three units died. Why do I only have one? Ooooh, damn. I send Bebel back to Abysia to rebuild his tattered army. I have my Azazel (my Anemic Dragon) become my prophet instead of moving around. Glyph just researches. I recruit I recruit a bunch of human axemen (everything else is so resource-expensive!). End Turn.

Oh crap! I forgot to tell Bebel to go to Abysia and he marched dutifully to Ecnaphale! Crap! He died. So did everyone in his tattered army. Crap! Azazel is now my prophet, but I need another commander. Glyph keeps recruiting. I look around for my scout because I forgot where I put him and find him in Holburg (20 light infantry and militia). I send him to explore some farmland (Cerne). I pick up another Abysian Commander in the recruiting screen and load up the humanbred axemen. This is stinking. Next turn.

Hey, good. More research is done in evocation. R’lyeh pronounces that StarSpew is the new prophet of Blah. I’m glad they’re stuck out in the ocean. I send Cerberos to Pirenna. Glyph keeps researching. I wish he could move around, but I guess I need to research. My new commander is Murmur. I set Azazel up with 10 human spearmen and 10 axemen. I set Murmur up with 7 of each. I recruit some more axemen, spearmen, and some Lava Pyre Guardian guys, just for variety. I wish I didn’t do this Blood of Humans thing, cause I want some mighty heat-radiating Abysians. Maybe I’ll attack next turn. I notice I can recruit in Witches Copse, too. I pick up a commander there and some infantry – I just want to keep unrest down. We’re happy little Abysians.

Turn six. No Messages. Cerberos heads further north to Corbion. I change my mind since he’s getting too far away. I have him go west to Dragon Ridge (oooh). Dragol is my new commander in Witches Copse. I just leave him there (his army will be slow to build). Glyph keeps researching. He’s turning into a Couch Potato Glyph. In Abysia I have Murmur and Azazel with 10 spearmen and 10 axemen each. Azazel gets a Lava Guardian to protect him (he’s back a bit from the battle). I send Bebel and Azazel to attack those blasphemers in Ecnaphale. I recruit a Newt (to watch over Ecnaphale later) and five heavy infantry with morningstars. I wonder what “Holy” is. I have nine of them in the recruiting screen.

Turn seven. Great. A quarter of the population in Witches Copse died because of a flood. But Dragol is okay. A battle in Ecnaphale! I won! Five of my men died, it says, but it lies so I have to check it out. Azazel casts Fanaticism and Smite a bunch of times. Eventually, they all run away. Azazel lost a spearman and Murmur lost five. Okay. Commanders! Cerberos heads back towards Abysia. I need to explore to the south now. My new Newt is named Charygas. I send him to Ecnaphale to preach or something. Where to send my two armies (Azazel and Murmur). Holburg Forest (40 light infantry and militia) and the Ferran Mountains (20 militias) are to the north. To the east is Abysia and Witches Copse to the south. I send Murmur and Azazel to the Ferran Mountains with my fingers crossed. I have no clue how well they’ll fare. Witches Copse is slooowly recruiting some infantry. I recruit some infantry in Ecnaphale. I get five more heavy morningstars in Abysia. My resources are at -97. I wonder how I raise that. Guess I’ll keep conquering.

Turn eight. Arcoscephale declared war on my unholy nation. Crap. I don’t even know where they are. I beat the snot out of the militia in the Ferran mountains and didn’t lose any troops! Yay! But that always lies, so I go check my armies. Murmur lost a spearman, I think. Still a good fight! I send Cerberos further south. Maybe Arco is down there. I want to send Murmur and Azazel to Yldmere, but there’s 40 friggin barbarians there! I send them back to Abysia instead, to regroup. I have Charygas build a temple in Ecnaphale. Dragol just sits in the woods. I recruit some heavy infantry in the Ferran Mountains. I’m building little five unit heavy infantry armies in all my outlying provinces. I recruit another Newt to send to the Ferran Mountains. I recruit five spearmen and three morningstars in Abysia to refresh the armies.

Turn nine. More research complete. I wonder what I can cast now? A death match competition is scheduled and I have to send a champion. I don’t think so. I know there’s a Manticore out there that will beat nine kinds of snot out of my entire army, let alone a single champion. But it’s tempting! I guess I’ll send Azazel. He’s kind of mighty. I’m just recruiting anyhow. Cerberos heads further south. Dragol sits there and defends. Charygas builds a temple. Again. Why didn’t he do it before? Murmur sits around. Hagathar (new Newt priest) heads to the Ferran Mountains to preach the one true way. My way. I load up my armies in Abysia and recruit five more morningstars. Next turn we’ll attack some barbarians.

Turn ten. Great. A quarter of the Ferran Mountains died because of rain. I need to teach people to swim. There’s a battle in “The Arena”. Azazel versus Fishyeyes the Illithid Lord. Yikes. Azazel smites the hell out of him and he hisses a lot. He has seven hp left and I have 39 and the bastard walks over and whacks me with his trident in one hit! That is so lame. Arco wins the death match. Aw crap! I don’t get my hero back, either! Poop, he was my prophet. Cerberos heads south. I want him to assassinate Fishyeyes. Murmur sits around. Dagol sits around. Glyph researches. Charygas starts preaching, as does Hagathar. Actually, Hagathar doesn’t. Seems we have max dominion already. I feel so sad about poor Azazel. The big fat loser. I only have 194 gold and can’t hire another dragon. Or even a salamander. I pick up another Abysian Commander and some Pyre Guardians. Sigh.

Turn eleven. No Messages. Cerberos goes further south, looking for enemy nations. Looks like R’yleh is out in the ocean. Lots of black flags. Glyph researches. Dagol sits there. Charygas preaches. Hagathar preaches and waits for money for his temple. Ragog is my new commander so I load him up with some of Azazel’s old troops. Each army has 10 spears, 10 axes, and 5 morningstars. I recruit another commander, a battleaxe, and some lava pyre guards.

Turn twelve. Rain killed a quarter of Ecnaphale. It’s rainy out here in… this world… whatever it’s called. Cerberos explores. Charygas preaches. Dagol hunts unrest for a change. Hagathar waits for money. Murmur and Ragog sit. New commander is Forfax and I load him up with five morningstars and six guardians. I recruit some more morningstars. I’m kind of bored, so I send Murmur and Ragog and Forfax off to take Ultima Typhia from 20 barbarians.

Turn thirteen. Dagol killed five troublemakers, making the land safe again. Cerberos explores. Charygas preaches. Dagol defends. Hagathar waits for money. Same old crap. I forgot to send my armies to Ultima Typhia. I load up Forfax with more morningstars and they all three head off to Ultima. 20 spearmen, 20 axemen, 20 morningstars, and 6 lava pyre guardians versus 20 barbarians. That might be a little overkill. I want another dragon, so I don’t recruit anything.

Turn fourteen. I lost two axemen to the barbarians. Cerberos explores more. Charygas preaches. Dagol sits bored. Hagathar has started a brothel since I never gave him temple money. The three stooges (Murmur, Ragog, and Forfax) head north to take Yldmere from 30 barbarians. Glyph researches. That’s all he ever does. I recruit a new Dragon and five battleaxes. Yay! Now I need to get prophet power back so I can make a new one. So much for the resurrection.

Turn fifteen. Dead prophet power is now gone. Just in time! Lost four units in Yldmere. I’m rocking this world. Going to try and get some farmland, I think. Cerberos wanders around. I send the three stooges to Dragon Ridge (20 militia). I’ll build a fortress there and make it a main base. I send Hagathar there with the stooges. Charygas keeps preaching. I recruit some barbarian cops in Yldmere and Ultima (five in each). I make Carga my new prophet and recruit some more battleaxes.

Turn sixteen. Yay! Research completed. I proclaimed Carga the Prophet. The laboratory in Abysia caught on fire. Does nothing good ever happen? I won Dragon Ridge with no losses (yeah!). I’ve only 206 gold. Hrm. Can’t build a fortress yet. I have Glyph rebuild my lab and I’m out of gold. Choked up on resources though. Cerberos wanders south and runs into Arco. I notice Arco is to my north and almost abutting my territory. Yikes. They seem much bigger than me. Hagathar waits for fortress money. Dagol heads to Ultima (unrest is 230 there!). He has to go through Abysia first. Carga waits around. I’m trying to build an army for him but I’m out of gold. Charygas preaches more. There’s a little crown thingy off in the ocean to the east. Not sure why. Wish I could go scout it out. The stooges head to Cerne (20 heavy cavalry and infantry).

Turn seventeen. Battle in Cerne. I lost 10 units. I watch the battle and it’s sort of neat. I set up the spearmen in front and the heavy cavalry I was fighting just charged right into those guys. I guess that’s good. I lost some spearmen, but they are cheap. Chuzrael the Slayer appeared at my gate to fight for my cause. Great, another explorer. Those guys are worthless! But this guy is pretty hefty (15 strength and attack and 20 hp). He can fly, too and is stealthy +25. I’ll send him to explore Arco. Chuzrael heads north. He can haul *** and moves three provinces. Hagathar waits. Cerberos explores Arco territory, looking for a commander to slay. Dagol is moving to Ultima to quell unrest. The three stooges move to Holburg (20 light infantry/militia). Charygas moves to Holburg too (weak dominion there). The stooges are weaker. They went from 20 spearmen, 20 axemen, 20 morningstars, and 6 lava pyre guardians to no spearmen, 13 axemen, 19 morningstars, and 6 lava pyre guardians. Spearmen are fodder, it seems.

Turn eighteen. A dire portent happens. Blahblah, King of the Sea casts a global enchantment (Arcane Nexus). Good thing I’m not casting spells because that Nexus would suck up my gems and give them to Blahblah, I guess. How the hell did he get 150 astral pearls? I don’t have any. Hmph. I should go explore for magic sites. Sounds like a job for my prophet. Holburg was taken with three losses. Cerberos explores and looks for the pretender god of the Arcos. I notice R’yleh is on land to the south. I send Chuzrael to check it out. Carga goes to Witches Copse to find magic sites with his 8 battleaxes in tow. Charygas preaches in Holburg. Hagathar builds a fortress in Dragon Ridge. Dagol starts patrolling in Ultima. I redistribute the three stooges armies and give everyone to Murmur (he’s got heroic ability). Forfax heads back to Abysia to recruit. Ragog heads to Dragon Ridge to recruit. Murmur heads to Dragon Ridge. He’s on his way to some farmland to the north (next to Arco).

Turn nineteen. Dragol (not Dagol) kills 2 troublemakers. He keeps patrolling. Chuzrael heads south to check out R’yleh on land. Forfax and Ragog await more recruits. Hagathor builds his fort. Charygas spreads the word. Murmur heads north to Sonria to take on 30 militia/hvy inf/archers. I recruit five lava guardians and a warlock apprentice for Forfax.

Turn twenty. Two more troublemakers down in Ultima. I reduce taxes there to fifty percent (unrest is growing faster than I can slow it). Carga searches for magic. Vohy is my new Warlock Apprentice and teams up with Forfax. He’ll just do magic. Forfax and Ragog await more recruits. Hagathor builds the fort. He’s slow. I forgot to have Murmur go north Last time, so he heads north now. Chuzrael sees an officer and a few henchmen in R’yleh held Bergamum. I’m tempted to see if Chuzrael can take on a small army by himself, but I send him to Erfel instead to see what’s there. I’m getting some big old candles (dominion 9 in lots of places). I wonder how I win this game. I recruit five more heavy infantry in Witches Copse (I moved the ones I had there to Ultima with Dragol). I recruit ten morningstars in Abysia.

Turn twenty-one. Carga found a magic site (Tar Pits – fire crystals). I send him to Ecnaphale. I reduce taxes in Ultima to zero. It’s only giving me two gold pieces as it is. Murmur blew through Sonria with five losses. I want to send him to Pergami (big gold stack) but there’s 70 units there (crossbowmen, heavy and light infantry). I send him to Corbion instead (10 militia/heavy cav). I wish I could have Glyph boil the R’yleh fishmen alive in the oceans. Cerberos hunts a pretender. Chuzrael finds an army with a huge Illithid Lord commanding it in Erfel. I tell him to assassinate the commander. Vohy and Forfax sit around in Abysia. Hagathor finished the fort. I tell him to go to Cerne (weak dominion there). Ragog waits in Dragon Ridge for troops. My idea is to have Murmur keep claiming territory, have Ragog defend my north side against the Arcos, and have Forfax kick the R’yleh aliens back into the ocean. Carga will hunt for magic in my territory (I got a late start at this). Oh no! I realize Vohy can’t do fire magic. I set him to research with Glyph and recruit a Dragon and ten more human axemen to work with Forfax. I recruit a few flails up in Dragon Ridge.

Turn twenty-two. Chuzrael gets paralyzed by the stupid Illithid Lord and then gets stabbed to death with his trident. Stupid aliens. Murmur takes Corbion with no losses and heads south to Pirenna. R’yleh aliens are everywhere. Cerberos hunts and avoids those damn Illithids with their 100 precision and 100 range and paralyze. I hate those things now. Carga searches for magic. I recruit 10 heavy axemen for Forfax. I wish I could rename these guys because my Dragon is named Ragog, too. I have him help research until I have my army ready to head south. I recruit two flails and six morningstars for the Ragog up north. Hagathor starts preaching. I discover the N key will let you jump around between commanders. Yay!

Turn twenty-three. Lots of Messages. Arco declared war on me again. A fish named Shub did a global enchantment (Eyes of God). Carga found nothing. He’s moving to Holburg. In Cerne there’s ill omens spreading around. Murmur blew through Pirenna and is moving on to the east. The fishies are there, and I want to kick them off the mountains. The Arcos took over Sonria. I had no defenders there. That was a nice farm area, too. Dragol killed a few bandits in Ultima. Unrest is still at 238. Cerberos is hunting the Arco leader who took Sonria from me. I’ll be moving Murmur over there to mop up after he whacks some aliens for me. Recruiting a bunch of axes and flails for Ragog in the north. Recruiting some Guardians and axes for Forfax in the south. I feel like I’m just randomly picking units for the army – Don’t see any real differences between them. I decided to empower Ragog the mage to level 4 in flame.

Turn twenty-four. Unprotected Corbion was lost to the Arcos. They are trampling all over me. Dragol killed some more brigands. Murmur bLasted through R’yleh in Cimri. But I’m backing away because I lost some Guardians that I want to replenish. I’m having Cerberos try an assassination against a “loyal officer” in Sonria. I’m getting sandwiched between Arco on the north and R’yleh to the south. Carga does more magic hunting. Charygas heads north to preach. I hired a salamander and some axes for Forfax in the south. Still working on axes in the north.

Turn twenty-five. Carga can’t find magic. I send him north a bit. Some barbarians pillages Pirenna at random. Some earth gems were found in the Ferran Mountains. Bune (an Arco) attacked Pirenna and I beat him off with Murmur and Charygas without losing anyone. Then a bunch of barbarians attacked in Pirenna and they beat me! Those barbarians beat the snot out of my heavy morningstars. They killed everyone, including Charygas and Murmur. That makes me sad. I’m telling Cerberos to assassinate an enemy commander again. I wonder why he didn’t earlier. Forcator is my new Salamander and I’m sending him north to help Ragog. I’m sending Forfax south with Ragog the Dragon. He’s got 30 units. Ragog the Commander is heading north into Sonria. Maybe Cerberos will kill that commander before Ragog arrives with his 35 units. Hiring some replacement axemen both in the south and the north.

Turn twenty-six. Researched Evocation level 4. Forfax and Ragog kicked the R’yleh out of Bergamum. Sending them east for more kicking. Ragog kicked the Arcos out of Sonria He’s chasing them down. That’s a nice valuable province. Dragol killed another brigand in Ultima. Forneus is my new commander and he’s waiting for his army to form in Abysia. Forcalor continues his trek north. Carga searches for magic.

27. Carga still can’t find magic. Ragog beat the Arcos out of the Morn wood. Forfax beat the R’yleh out of Erfel. No real problems, though some barbarians in Morn wood were scary. Cerberos is running around looking for someone he can assassinate. Forfax is still expanding southwards. Ragog is moving to protect Sonria.

28. Forfax chased a single woodsman out of Ermithia. He’s moving to chase an Illithid Lord out of a little piece of farmland called Tirannea. Ragog moves north to beat up on the R’yleh in the northern woodlands. He’s met up with Forcolor and adds him to his army.

29. Carga found a magic site. Ragog kicks the R’yleh out and decides to build a fortress in the north. But he can’t. Neither can Forcolor. They’re in the woods… Is that why? Dang. I’ll hold it for a turn and try again. Oh, I don’t have enough gold. The R’yleh are swarming all over, coming right out of the ocean. I’ve lost all sense of organization and am going to start anew. This was fun though.

[UncleYee]

Most enjoyable AAR I've read. You've really captured the spirit of the seldom-told utter confusion of the newbie DomII experience. A welcome change from the unbroken strings of victories more commonly posted.

[Argitoth]

#1. Abysia prefers heat of 3
#2. 7+ Dominion is considered high, not 6.
#3. Your Glyph pretender, if it has enough fire magic and whatnot, can eventually cast global enchantments and powerful summons depending on what you research.
#4. The taller the white CANDLE is, the more dominion is in that province. White flags mean neutral provinces aka, provinces not owned by anyone (except independance).
#5. Why do you only have one spearman? Just watch the battle. Press "n" to see the news report and click "view battle" or you can click on a province with crossed swords and press "v" to view the battle(s) in that province.
#6. When using Abysia, try taking +3 Production and +3 Order.

... and omg, you just typed way too much. I can't read on.

[Demosthenes]

Great Post! My first full game was with Abysia also. Good Times. Thanks for sharing this.

Originally posted by Argitoth:

... and omg, you just typed way too much. I can't read on.

*Ahem*

[ February 28, 2004, 20:46: Message edited by: Demosthenes ]

[Gandalf Parker]

Nice writeup. Good style. Keep it coming.

[Aikamun]

Made me laugh. I had similar experiences a long time ago (one month).

Sounds like your spearmen retreated to a neighboring province (Abyssia) and can be found in the garrison. So the battle report was correct, three died and the other twelve routed to safety

You also experienced bad luck, with all the flooding (especially with luck 1).

The stickied thread, "Newbies and Confused People", December 19 post has some good supplemental info on scales.

Good luck in your second war of aggression.

Aikamun

[PDF]

About the "lying battle reports" : reports are exact, what happens is that troops running away from battle find shelter in a neighbouring province and are no more with their commander, so you have to regroup them !
Great AAR, and truly newbie-ish

[Argitoth]

Originally posted by Demosthenes:
Great Post! My first full game was with Abysia also. Good Times. Thanks for sharing this.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Argitoth:

... and omg, you just typed way too much. I can't read on.

*Ahem*

---

[Ctennyson]

This sums up every game I played until I tried out Ermor - Ashen Empire.

I dominated that game, and learned a TON by winning. I recommend it to all newbs.

I started with R'lyeh, in my first game, and oh my god. What a loss. Then Ulm. Loss.

I love Abyssia, though, too bad they have no archers. Love archers.

[PhilD]

Originally posted by Ctennyson:
This sums up every game I played until I tried out Ermor - Ashen Empire.

I dominated that game, and learned a TON by winning. I recommend it to all newbs.

I started with R'lyeh, in my first game, and oh my god. What a loss. Then Ulm. Loss.

I love Abyssia, though, too bad they have no archers. Love archers.

The lack of "normal" archers is the easiest to compensate for, as you will find archer provinces everywhere. Just be sure to relocate them far from your Abysian troops AND Province defense, or they'll be one-use archers.