"Got Blood?" -- BF Ulm AAR (Newbie)

[Scott Hebert]

Graeme, I'm aware of that fact. However, as you can probably tell already, I'm going through my money paying for what is, to me, more important things. Getting Ulrich when I did was actually quite nice for me, since he can move troops around.

Bayushi Tasogare

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by Bayushi Tasogare:
Graeme, I'm aware of that fact.

I wasn't sure if you were aware that resources accumulated towards a unit if they were very low in a province. I know that I wasn't for a very long time, and wanted to make sure that people realized how it worked.

[Scott Hebert]

Turn 4

No real news for this turn, as far as Messages. Machaka makes Abasi the Hero into a Prophet... I guess that's better than a stupid Bane Spider...

My forces take Zimmria basically unopposed. When I do so, I find C'tis to its NE. I see several things that make me relatively happy about it. First, they have a Mausoleum for a Fortress. While perhaps thematically appropriate, they are vulnerable to attack. Second, they have Serpent Dancers as their primary defense. While that may be a problem, it means they're playing base C'tis, so I won't have to worry about Undead or Miasma. Finally, their Pretender is an Archmage. Overall, it could have been much worse there.

Evita (2S) the Fortuneteller joins the coven, who all research. Both Thaumaturgy 1 and Construction 1 should be researched by the end of the turn.

As far as Orders go, unrest in Fenatice was eliminated, so I raise its taxation back to 100%. Meanwhile, I reduce Zimmria's taxation to 50% to cure unrest.

I move Karl and Rexor into C'tis in an attempt to preemptively knock out C'tis, as well as gain another Fort (however bad) to recruit from.

I pay 85g to rehire Rexor's Barbarians. This leaves me with not enough gold to hire a Fortuneteller, so I hire a Wolfherd and 4 Morningstar Infantry. The reason that I buy the Wolfherd, and not a mage/other commander, is because the Wolfherd is capital-only, and I plan to use the Wolves generated. This is reinforced by the fact that I'm looking at getting another fortress, which can serve as a factory for my Blood Mages.

Status Report:
Provinces: 3
Treasury: 4
Income: 229 (+33)
Upkeep: 51 (+11)
Gems: 5A,4S,12D,4N
Gem Income: +1S,+3D,+1N
Research: Alteration 2, (Thaumaturgy 1), (Construction 1)
Research Income: 39 of 39

Next turn, the Baron!

Bayushi Tasogare

[Scott Hebert]

Just a short update... I do intend to complete this AAR. I'm currently looking for my notes up to turn 7. When I do, I'll update to then, and then post one turn a day until I win or lose.

edit: spelling

[ June 16, 2004, 00:32: Message edited by: Scott Hebert ]

[Scott Hebert]

Turn 5

Irma regarded the young-looking man before her. "Excuse me? You believe I have made an error?"

"Yes, my Queen. And as Castellan of your Keep..." The man trailed off. Of course, he was more than merely a man now. The new Castellan, who succumbed to the Malediction and fed on his father's corpse.

Irma continued to stare at him. "And this error I made was..?"

"My Lady, the Barbarians, while useful, were destined to be ground into dust facing C'tis's defenders. There was no need to pay the dead." His face seemed troubled, as if he was not sure of the wisdom of questioning his Queen's judgement.

Irma chuckled slightly. "Fear not, Baron Ulrich. You can be my advisor, until such time as you become unfit for service." Ulrich bowed his head in acknowledgement, and if Irma was not mistaken, relief. "Make ready a reinforcement column to send to C'tis, and find what mercenaries you can as well. I think the Serpent's Mausoleum will make a fitting summer cottage for me."

--

Abysia names Ba'al Chozron the Anathemant Warlock as their Prophet. Always a pleasure... :|

As noted in the story above, I successfully take out the PD in C'tis, but I lose all of Rexor's Barbarians but Rexor in the process. It would have been better to not pay for him again.

I give orders for Karl and Rexor to siege in C'tis. Nan Bagor moves in to reinforce the siege. Zierod (my new Wolfherd) takes the Rangers and the Wolves in Ulm and Sneaks to Zimmria. Ulrich meanwhile takes the Morningstar Infantry in Ulm and moves to Fenatice. Finally, Irma and her coven research.

For taxes, I increase taxes in Zimmria to 80%, and reduce taxes in C'tis to 50%.

I note that Dante's Stingers are available to hire, and so I pay 160g to hire them straight into C'tis. I also pay 102g for a Fortuneteller and a Ranger in Ulm.

Status:

Treasury: 7
Income: 284 (+55)
Upkeep: 57 (+6)
Gems: 5A/5S/15D/5N
GI: +1S/+3D/+3N
Research: 39/39 points, Construction 2 should be researched next turn.

Next update: Turn 6.

[HotNifeThruButr]

I'd really love to see more of this, I dabbled in Black Forest for a while, because of the rangers. Accuracy AND axes in melee, wow! But I got trounced... repeatedly... by the AI.

Anyways, I wonder why you use Infants of Ulm instead of Zweihanders. Although rangers can fend for themselves in a melee, I'm sure Zweihanders' improved armor, and therefor tanking ability, makes them superior to Infantry of Ulm combined with the fact that your recruitable mortal commanders, the Commanders of Ulm (how imaginative) can only take 25 men apiece instead of the standard 50.

Aside from that, I also wonder how/when you're going to get a slave trade going. I'm a newbie to blood magic, and have only dabbled in it in one game with Diabolical Faith. What demons do you plan to summon, if you're not only using it to make Counts. How will you deal with only having your pretender to summon them?

I might've missed it from another post, but are you playing the AI or in Multiplayer?

[Scott Hebert]

Originally posted by HotNifeThruButr:
I'd really love to see more of this, I dabbled in Black Forest for a while, because of the rangers. Accuracy AND axes in melee, wow! But I got trounced... repeatedly... by the AI.

The Rangers are nice, but they're not much different from the Arbalests of base Ulm. Well, they fire more rapidly, and are more accurate, but they're much worse in melee combat (due to lack of armor).

Anyways, I wonder why you use Infants of Ulm instead of Zweihanders. Although rangers can fend for themselves in a melee, I'm sure Zweihanders' improved armor, and therefor tanking ability, makes them superior to Infantry of Ulm combined with the fact that your recruitable mortal commanders, the Commanders of Ulm (how imaginative) can only take 25 men apiece instead of the standard 50.

Actually, I don't use the Zweihanders because 1) they're more resource-intensive than the infantry (IIRC), and 2) They don't have shields. Especially when you consider I'm firing crossbow bolts into melee after a while, you want shields on your tanks. The difference in survivability between Morningstar Infantry and Zweihanders is quite large. Point-by-point:

1) Zweihanders don't have shields, which means they're going to be taking damage from my own Rangers.
2) Zweihanders are easily hit, and while they better armor, defense is rather important.
3) Zweihanders actually have greater encumbrance, and therefore their endurance is less.
4) I can buy a Morningstar Infantry, a Ranger, and a mage for the same resource cost as a Zweihander. This is my limiting factor at present.
5) I seem to recall from SaberCherry's combat simulator that the Morningstar Infantry was generally better than 2-handed wpn. Infantry.

I have quite a few reasons why I'm using Morningstar Infantry. Points 1) and 4) I think are the most important.

Aside from that, I also wonder how/when you're going to get a slave trade going. I'm a newbie to blood magic, and have only dabbled in it in one game with Diabolical Faith. What demons do you plan to summon, if you're not only using it to make Counts. How will you deal with only having your pretender to summon them?

Well, with a little help, the Counts can summon each other. Irma can also summon the Ice Devils. I can probably also get her Blood high enough (through Vessel/Armor/Thorn/Artifact Book) to summon the Heliophagi. Time will tell with this.

I might've missed it from another post, but are you playing the AI or in Multiplayer?

I'm playing SP (that is, against the AI). If this wasn't totally after the action, I'd be kinda stupid to do it.

Another small note. Everything up until turn 7 was done under 2.08. That means, before the missile fire rules were changed. If anything, this should make the Rangers more deadly.

Hope this helps.