my first AAR - Arco DL, first 6 turns - newbie

[Neophyte]

First after action report:

My Pretender: Arcoscephale Daughter of the Land, Fortress, W5D4, Dom5, T3G2L3M2, 7 points left: Jane, Harvester of Sailors, Goddess of Suicides. I wasn't going to report the name, but the Goddess of Suicides seamed interesting.

No mods applied.

Map: Orania, Indy Str 6, Special Sites 50, 1 province.

Opponents all normal AI: Manchaka, T'ien Chi, Pythium and Mictlan

Starting position: #228 Iron Pass

Turn 1: Research set to 10 pts to construction (2 turns), balance to evocation. Recruited 1 Mystic (A1W1E1), 1 Elephant and 2 Companions of the Heart (CotH). Pretender set to research. Scout to Umidor (213).

Turn 2: Scrying: Scythia (235) ~50 barbarians, Muspel (238) ~60 amazons and nightmares (high in plans for initial conquest to gain nightmares, but will wait until sure of success). Scouting: Umidor (213) 40 Tribal Warriors and Tribal Archers. Mystic set to research, construction 10, evoc & enchant each 6. Recruit 2 CotH (not enough for 2nd Mystic, no more 1st turn Elephant or only 1 CotH). Scout to Andoria (197).

Turn 3: Scrying: Gol Phalas (247) ~60 militia, longbowmen, knights – ouch!, Resting Heights (225) ~50 militias and hvy inf. Scouting: 30 Militia & Lt Inf. Recruit Mystic (F1A1E1), 1 CotH. Scout to Father Fire (208). Research in construction completed, shifted to Enchant 14 (1 turn) and Evoc 8.

Turn 4: Scry Dragon Ridge (225) ~60 Militia, Archers and Hvy Inf. Scout: 20 Militia, Hvy Inf. Mystics forge Ice Sword and Ench. Shield. Recruit 2 CotH. Scout to The Promised Land (229). Research in Ench completed, changed to Alt 10, Evo 3.

Turn 5: Equipped Jane with both items, sent her to Umidor, down to 20 Tribal Warriors and Tribal Archers. Recruited a Priestess. Mtd. Comm. With all units and Mystic (F1A1E1) sent to Scythia (225) with ~50 barbarians.

Turn 6: Mictlan declared war, Anthromachus appeared. Pretender died in battle, so I gave up to start over.

Lessons learned: Equip pretender better (maybe research construction only to level 4 to get Shield of Valor and/or alchemy to make armor). No elephant on turn 1. Attack a weak independent earlier with army, not pretender – maybe after recruited 6 CotH and a priestess.

Lately I've been playing Arco with D/L pretender on Orania with various magic paths, etc. I like to have dominion at 4 minimum, and have come to rely on amazons. I'm still a newbie, so any comments would be welcomed. I like Arco's scrying and D/L's water gems. I like high turmoil and luck because it's fun / box of chocolates effect. I've been adding Death for sites and Skull Mentor, but since that is mid game, maybe I should try a different 2nd path or maybe just W9. Hmmm – I think I will try W9 next.