Ulm SP AAR- Swords Vs. Sorcery

[boltcutter]

OK, turn 42-43:

A series of "suspicious events" occurs: Two arrows from the sky- one killing a smith, the other injuring a Commander- an earthquake in T'ien Chi [destroying my temple there] and 1/5 of the population moving out of one of my minor provinces.

Caelum captures the Desert Eye, cutting me off from taking the last T'ien Chi province. Hopefully they will clean that up soon- it's still giving me -7 and -8 dominions in places.

Also, Caelum creates a SECOND global enchantment- the one that gives them millions of Air gems. They must be destroyed, and fast.
I reorganize my armies into one Army, plus a "floating reserve". There is some chaos and starvation but it is brought under control.
I shift my "economic warriors" over to adjacent provinces- the unrest numbers are nice, but the number of patrolling troops is getting a little high.

Shopping- I recruit three Smiths, increase my research- I am two turns from Conjuration 5, and [many] from Conjuration 6. I recruit one or two spies and a Commander or two on general principles, then buy Battleaxemen. I have concluded that the Black Plate of Ulm is basically so good that shields really don't add much except encumbrance, and My troops need to deliver faster kills.

Tactics- I am reorganizing my anti-Caelumite troops. There is no "front" as such, dealing with winged troops, so I huddle my Smiths together, surrounded by a large group of bodyguards, and put the other half of my melee troops up front to [hopefully] reach the archers before they do too much damage. My regular archers are going to have to fend for themselves, I fear; I do have two cavalry in the rear set to "attack flyers".

Strategy- I am pleased to find out that, although there is a huge Pythian army, they have essentially no magical research. I anticipate some ugly times taking the capital of Caelum- hopefully I will be able to storm the castle before my leadership is decimated by arrows. I have about 50 "soldiers" worth of siege warfare. If I could reach Pythium directly, I would attack them next. As it is, the enormous lizard threat is probably My next worry.