Abysia CB 5.0 AAR

[RedRover]

TURN 20
C’tis does seem to be south. No capital yet, but two more provinces with Temples. He does move in my direction with some of his force—I count 9 Militia on the east side of the bridge after he takes out the independents, and no Tomb Worms. I must fortify here as quickly as possible. I can’t put off building another turn.

Orion joined, so the attack (northwest) is on. After I take these two provinces, it looks like I’ll have to backtrack and start working the far north. C’tis has sealed off the east, the only other crossing is about two provinces northeast of my northern force. I take a minute to reorganize armies.

The new “First Army” is at the east bridge with the Prophet. It’s still something of a paper army until the Abysians from the old Second Army join it. By that time, the new Citadel will be up and pumping out cheap halfbreed spearmen. The new “Second Army” is the northern force. It consists of Hector, Orion, and two understrength spear units. It is attacking with no magic support (other than Orion) but a Lizard Shaman is on the way. I’ll probably delay him long enough to build a Temple somewhere—I need some cheap, weak Priests to bolster the army, aid province defense, and chat up the locals. “Third Army” is building in the capital, currently a dozen halfbreed spearmen and three Abysian Infantry (also a half dozen archers I raised during the blood hunts, but they’re more of a castle guard). I need to double this force and add a Salamander and a half dozen more Abysian Infantry before sending them anywhere.

Scores: For provinces, I’m still third, but static, while everyone else is growing. Not good. For income, I’ve dropped to second, below Ulm; Man is behind me, and accelerating. Not good. For gems, I’m still fifth, but Man has caught up to me. In research, I am sixth, but catching up to three, four, and five. No one is catching Man any time soon, and Arco is so far ahead they’ve more than doubled everyone except Man. In dominion, I am third and accelerating. I will pass C’tis soon; Caelum is ahead of us, but static; Man and Oceania are not only at the bottom of the heap, but fading. For army size, C’tis just hyperaccelerated past Man to grab first place. I’m in last place, but at least my rate of growth is higher than Ulm (third) or Oceania (seventh). Overall, it’s not looking so good.

TURN 21
Pressure’s on. C’tis parked 60 Ghouls and Tomb Worms on my doorstep, and I have only a handful of troops to meet them. The province defense (PD) is up to 25, backed by the Prophet, a Druid, and a Salamander priest. The Abysian Infantry is still two turns out, but the Manticore can get there now. I build junk archers. I think I will not see Construction 4 before the hordes of C’tis attack. Now I need money and troops, and the only way to get those is to get land. I find the C’tis capital, it is on the map edge several provinces southeast of the bridge.

While the new Second Army moves through Godsgrave Pass (how appropriate!) against a Militia/Light Infantry force, the half-built Third Army moves northwest from the capital. We may see a combined attack on the Amazons soon. Elsewhere, I hire Urgek and his Beast Brothers, who will combine with one spear unit and the Lizard Shaman to expand into the far north/northeast. My Demonbred will pop in the first Devil next turn, but the blood hunting came up dry this turn. I have enough slaves in reserve to get three or four Devils. I am relying far too much on mercenaries, but I haven’t been able to ramp up production of national troops yet.

[RedRover]

TURN 22
Mixed news. The C’tis horde moved away from the border, leaving a guard of 10, mostly Tomb Worms and a priest (Prophet?). I have a couple turns, maybe. Meanwhile, my assassin discovers that the C’tis capital is on a choke point--no movement south without going through its province. Do I risk it, or hang around keeping tabs on troop movements in my direction? I think I’ll try infiltrating with a scout before risking an assassin.

The strategic implications are troubling. Northeast/east expansion will eventually hit C’tis coming the other way, so it’s ultimately a dead end. Northwest will be good for a while, but I’m sure someone’s across the bay from me—I just can’t see him yet. I can’t go south on my west border without trickling out down along the coast, and that means dealing with Knights.

Almost forgot to renew Dagan and Orion this turn. That would have really messed things up. Fixing this prevents my getting another Demonbred this turn. I bank the difference and send a researching Apprentice out to find Blood Slaves. This cuts my research even more. I put the Manticore back on line, but I’m only getting 48 research points this turn. At current rate, I’m two turns off Construction 3, and Construction 4 is where all the goodies are.

TURN 23-24
Moving right along. First Army is building at the east bridge, and the Citadel there will finish soon. Trouble on the horizon. Assassin spots a 60-lizard force of C’tis, mostly Slingers and Militia, may be headed my way. In the northwest, Second/Third Army cleans out the Amazons. In north, Urgek and company reach the river border and will cross this turn. Urgek’s mercs were reduced to meat shield status in the last combat, but the force across the river looks soft—30 Militia/Archers. Still, after the next battle there won’t be much left to rehire.

Boy, was that right! The attack failed. Urgek was killed, the spear unit and lizards were virtually annihilated, but at least the leaders and a few troops escaped. With the remnants reorganizing for another attack, the mercenary ettin Pak-Ur joins.

To the west, the Second Army cuts its way northwestward, stopping next to a magic site province (Witch's Roost) guarded by 60 Barbarians. Fortunately, the mercenary unit Grom’s Breakers is available, so I put up a bid. If it comes through, I’ll try to get the site.

At the east bridge, the fort is finally done. I’m going to risk First Army by throwing everything except one priest at the island magic site. C’tis looks far enough away that I can hit it and get back. Also, the 70 Longdead are reading 30 now, so there surely won’t be more than 70, and I can handle those, I think. I’ll just have to suck up the research loss, but I need to find some gem sites.

The extra priest heads north to help the northern river crossing. This map is very constricted; ground units have little mobility and it takes forever to get anywhere. With one renegade air wizard and no sites, it’s not like I’m ever going to be building the Flying Ship (Construction 8), and the Gate spell is a very long way away.

Next turn: Oops!

[RedRover]

TURN 25
Two more disasters! A sudden earthquake released Troglodytes, which wiped out the northern force. Only the Lizard Shaman escaped, even the mighty Pak-Ur perished. Man just hired Hector away from me, which delays the Second Army attack on the magic site. On the other hand, the Longdead were only about 40 strong, and were guarding a Shambler Reef, which opens up the surrounding waters (sort of: 40 Triton Guards are there) and gives me a way south. With enough time and money, I might even be able to exploit this. As a money source, though, the island’s a bust—my income this turn (566) was greater than the island’s population! First Army returns to the east bridge.

The Celestial mercenaries turn up. I bid on them—maybe they can destroy the Troglodytes and open the north to me. The Trogs seal me out of the whole northeast corner of the map. I can’t afford the dozen or so provinces this will hand over to C’tis. I have to get rid of them.

While waiting for Grom to show up, Second Army invades a wooded province. It has a 1-gem Earth site! If I can just get the right caster (Amazons take note), I may be able to find some more Earth sites. My gem income is now up to seven (5F1S1E)!

TURN 26
Good luck and bad. The Celestials are on board, but my Lab near magic site one has burned. No more Lizard Shamans until I get it fixed. The Celestials move on the Trogs, backed by the Lizard Shaman. Past the east bridge, a huge force of 90 heavy C’tis infantry are headed my way. Lots of building this turn, lots of remote scrying, especially the island magic site. Second Army moves on the northernmost magic site. My blood hunting has been sporadic, I can summon only one Devil this turn. I need more Apprentices and more provinces with higher population.

TURN 27
Here it comes. East bridge—90 Heavy Infantry and Longdeads, with 90 more right behind them. And me about 3 turns off Construction 4. My Prophet, who had left to found a new Temple, force-marches back—there is no money for temples this turn. One of my two Demonbreds leaves the capital with all the Devils he can scrape up; he’ll arrive at the east bridge in two turns. In the north, something went wrong: the Celestials didn’t march. I make sure they do this time, and my Salamander priest, who has finally arrived, will go with them. Second Army in the northwest rests after cleaning up the third magic site. This turn will see much remote scanning of that site. I only have two more scans for Nature sites after this—I need a hit or I’ll be forced to wait for another random Nature gem find.

Once again, short term need has overtaken strategic planning. I switch most of my research this turn to Conjuration. Will’o Wisps and Tangle Vines next turn look more important than Fire Rods in three turns. We’ll see how it works out. I miss a shot at rehiring Hector, who still has 10 knights, but 220+ gold is more than I can spare, and Man may kill the unit before it shows up, anyway. Too risky. I put the gold into another Salamander priest at the east bridge.

[RedRover]

TURN 28
C’tis doesn’t attack me, it must all be going north, east of the river. He’s left about 40 Slingers and Lizard Warriors watching me, and the rest are gone. My assassin moves north after them—I need more scouts out here (one is on the way, but it will take awhile).

In the north, the Celestials overrun the Trogs. I will push them forward while building a base up here. I need some of these wooded provinces for my last few shots at Nature magic.

In the northwest, magic site three proves to be Astral. Still only 1 gem, though. Phooey. From the map writeup, I thought the special sites would have something better than one gem each. Or maybe they do and I just don’t have the right paths to find out. But my gem income is now at eight. If this force can hold together for four more fights, I’ll cost to the west continent have a good place for a blocking fort on the west side of the great bay. Right now there are 60 Barbarians across a river saying no. I look at the bridge in front of me and say yes. If I sit here, I starve.

I will have Construction 4 next turn. I put the rest back into Conjuration, but after I hit Level 2 I’m going to start on Enchantments. We haven’t seen a global yet, but my main protection is Dispel, and that’s Level Five—it’s a long way off and I haven’t started on it yet. We’ll look at the graphs on turn 30.

TURN 29
Random Nature gems! Now I can keep the scrying going, but can’t quite get a Thistle Mace. I expected a Fire Wand at Construction 4, but it’s not on the list. I will empower a Salamander and check again (besides, the Fires from Afar spell, Evocation 3, will be useful if C’tis does come my way).

In the north, I’m across the river. I can either turn west and take on a second province with Amazons and Nightmares, or turn east against normal Militia. I go east—once I establish a border with C’tis up here, I can clean up what’s behind me (I hope). If I lose the Celestials, I’m absolutely done up here until I can build a base and make Abysian troops in big lots. It’s tricky—I want the base as far forward as possible, with as many high resource provinces as possible, yet I have to take the ground, build on it, and establish a vible military force before C’tis comes after me. I suspect I’ll probably wait too long to start it, but we’ll see…

In the northwest, I am in supply trouble. I thought I could attack out of it, but disease has struck and I have no counter. This could be really bad—I hope the scum troops die first.

Elsewhere, I have detached an Apprentice to head northwest to build a lab and activate the Amazon leaders in the province I conquered. Nightmares mean Onyx Amazons, which gives me Death and Earth magic seekers. The blood hunts are ramping up again, and I think a Devil a turn is now sustainable indefinitely. Time to go for two. Hector has been on the market for a few turns. I was saving for a fort, but I can use him up north with the Celestials. I couldn’t hire him last turn; that would have lined up four mercs in the same month—couldn’t afford that. Question is, is the hire going to be worth it at this point? I bite…

[shovah]

if your thinking of a wand that increases fire lvl i dont know of any that exist, theres the helmet (with -3 reinvig) or the misc which requires fire and death

[RedRover]

shovah: The only wand I've mentioned specifically so far is the Wand of Wild Fire, which throws Fireballs, as per the spell. It's great for plugging holes in the line when faced with masses of cheap troops. I just got a little confused about when it becomes available (my fault, when I solo I generally don't have the item reference open).


TURN 30
In the north, I find my first Nature site—1 gem, but at least I have an income—C’tis forces are now visible to the southeast. I’ve taken the last choke point I’m going to get. By next turn, I’ll have enough money to start building. In the meantime, there’s one more province to clear—50 Heavy Foot/Archers. I’m going for it.

Hector is back. Crud—the men are about gone, over half are diseased and have 4 hit points or so. They have maybe one battle left, if it’s soon. I’m sending them northwest to hit the Amazons at the map edge—maybe they will kill a few before they die. No one’s coming back, though. Never buy a used merc!

All quiet on the northwestern front, which I’m pushing. All quiet at the east bridge. I will reach Conjuration 2 and Enchantment 2 next turn.

Scores: For provinces, Ulm is leading, followed by me (Abysia), C’tis, and Man. I hold 25 provinces, so I guess Ulm has about 30, C’tis about 20, and Man 17-18. For income, Ulm is first, I’m second, barely edging out Man, who apparently lost a province recently. Caelum is fourth. For gems, the top three are Ulm, C’tis, and Oceania in that order. There is a distinct second tier, with me, Caelum, and Man. For research, I’m running sixth (still). Arcoscephele has a huge lead; Man and Caelum are practically tied for second, with Caelum accelerating. Pythium, Oceania, and I form the next tier, all growing about the same pace. For dominion, Caelum is the clear leader, with Ulm, C’tis, me, and Pythium forming a second tier. C’tis is accelerating sharply. I’m growing slowly and unevenly here—I need to build more Temples.



TURN 31
Caelum bought Grom away from me, just as I won a battle and Grom found an enchanted pike. Figures. My guess is, Grom is about two-thirds used up, but there’s no way to check it now. This halts the attacks in the northwest—I’m just out of steady troops.

In the north, Hector dies and takes out only three Amazons. I start my northern base near the map corner, but west of the river (province #208) to block the river crossing. All my surviving mercenary contracts expire next month, which means I have only enough money left to start the fort. I can’t afford troops or other structures. Nothing else breaks, but I will probably commit the Devils to coastal projects when I have a few more of them.


TURN 32
In the northeast, the Celestials divert across the barrier river eastward to clear the last independents adjacent to the fort site, which is getting a Temple this turn. The Lizard Shaman also goes, with some archers built locally and some recently arrived Lizard Warriors.

In the capital, enough Blood Slaves are available for two more Devils (hunted in the capital, ouch!). I start collecting ground troops for a west coast campaign. The Green Horde is available and I scrape up enough to bid (it takes some alchemy). Remote scrying locates another 1-gem Nature site. Great! Random Earth gems! Double great!!


TURN 33
In the northeast, Celestials push on to the corner province, which has 50 Lizard Men, the other choices are an open province (40 Heavy Infantry and Cavalry), sit, or retreat. There are still two unknown provinces between C’tis and me, so we might split the difference on this one. I don't care, just so I have enough breathing space to finish the fort. The Temple is built, the Lab is going up this turn.

Northwest force sits, except for some scouting, but a big attack toward the west coast begins now (Fourth Army). The Green Horde, a Salamander (now that the Amazon Lab is done) and a Demonbred with 14 Devils should clean out the 40 Heavy Cavalry and Militia in the coastal town. After that, it’s southward along the coast—I might even get as far as the big forest before hitting someone else. We’ll see.

By the east bridge, a few new scouts are arriving and sneaking across the river. I can see two C’tis units of 40, but not much else. I’ll try to get a scout past the C’tis capital and see what’s south. My fort here has become home to my scrying efforts. Meanwhile, I should hit Enchantment 3 this turn.

[RedRover]

TURN 34
Well, this turn the secret is out! C’tis hasn’t been pushing into the north because the last river line is blocked by a huge independent: the Earth Mother--with 110 Vine Men, Vine Ogres, and Dryads. The last two independent provinces near me that are mine if I can take them before C’tis takes out this block. My attack this turn is successful, but I lost all my Lizard Warriors. Fortunately, this is a Lizard Man province, so I’ll soon have enough fodder to take on the 30 Heavy Horse in the last independent province to the southwest.

In the west, the whole Green Horde is gone, only the Salamander and Devils remain! It was my own fault. I left the commanders in their default positions and the Demonbred heat effect set the Horde commander on fire. Gah! I deserve that for playing into the wee hours. However, other foot troops are close enough so I can finally clear the Heavy Horse out of the last province adjacent to my capital next turn. All my mercs renew this month; I wonder if I’ll lose any more of them. I recruit an Amazon Sorceress.

In the northwest, I try a risky attack with Orion and some common spearmen. I’ve been sitting only one province short of where I was considering a base, and it’s guarded only by Militia. I’ll try a defensive tactical setup and see if they impale themselves on it.

By the east bridge C’tis is back, with 70 Ghouls and Tomb Guards. I’m not worried if this is all they bring up.


TURN 35
I have very few reserves of Astral or Nature gems; I’ve been burning them off doing remote scrying. I’m going to stop this for a while—I have a feeling I’m going to want these gems before long. I also need to forge at least one Thistle Mace to upgrade a Druid. However, remote viewing pays off. I increase by 3 Astral and 2 Fire gems. And Pythium just declared war on me.

In the northeast, I mass for my next attack. I strip the new fort of troops to form a second prong for the assault. On examination, I discover that the river line blocked by the Earth Mother is more porous than I thought: C’tis can cross into my target province from the south! I would hate for my attack to run into a block of 90 C’tis. Turns out, that chance is remote…

…because across the east bridge, C’tis gathers 110 troops! I build some more Abysian Infantry and Woodland Archers in the fort, and summon two Fire Drakes to help hold the line. All wizards are issued gems.

In the northwest, on the western continent, the river assault was successful; I have my site (now I just need the money to develop it). It has a black candle, so I leave Orion to preach, while the other leader scrambles back a province to retrieve some routed troops. I wonder if the candle is Pythium coming? Also, barbarians have struck deep into my northwest territories, taking my Earth gem site. *pain*

The west (coastal) army stops to rebuild. The Demonbred and Devils return to the capital to pick up more infernal troops. Next turn they will clean out the barbarians. I need a Salamander to set up a Temple in the Amazon province so I can get an Amazon Priestess. Across the river south of the capital, I am also seeing black candles. It might be C’tis, Pythium, or maybe someone else.

I’ve been trying to build more internal Temples recently. I divert enough funds for the Prophet to build one in the first magic site. I also have a Salamander on the way to rebuild the Lizard Lab that burned down.

Scores: For provinces, Ulm is ahead, I am second, followed by C’tis and Man; no change. For income, it’s Ulm, me, Man, and Caelum. I am declining here, probably due to blood hunts and some bad unrest randoms. For gem income, Ulm and C’tis are tied, I am third and accelerating past Oceania, which is declining. For research, Arco soars, while Caelum has shot sharply past Man. I’m still sixth, in a third tier pack that includes Oceania, Pythium, and me. For dominion Caelum is still first, but Ulm has almost caught up. C’tis is third and climbing. I’m fourth and stagnant. Pythium is behind me and will catch up unless I raise more Temples. Man, Oceania, and Arcoscephale are far behind and in decline, the last two sharply so.

(Oops, forgot armies—I trail badly, last I think.)



TURN 36
If I want a base on the west continent, my northwest force (Orion) has to start it this turn. Caelum territory is about three provinces west and Man territory is about three provinces south. I have barely enough money to start construction, but would it be stretching my resources too far? I decide to risk it.

The west coast force is stuck; too weak to advance without the Devils. I discover I miscounted, the Devils can’t reach the Barbarians this turn, so they go as far as they can. Blood hunts dried up last turn, so no Devil this turn. Maybe Devil next turn.

C’tis pulls away from the east river fort again. OK with me. I think I can grind up anything he can send in the next few turns. I’m going to put the east bridge theater on hold for now. Incidentally, my Scout did not get past their capital. We hold brief services.

The north just turned messy. C’tis is across the river up here. If I attack my independent province target and win, we have a one-province front. Worst case is we try for the same province and he comes in second with a bigger army.

I’m going for it. Worse news is that Bogus the Troll has showed up and besieged my north base! No reinforcements, no gem restocks, and the expeditionary force has no way home. Great. If enough Celestials survive the coming battle, then that might be enough to get rid of the raiders, otherwise, the siege is a lo-o-ong march from anywhere I have troops.



TURN 37
In the northwest, scouts are trying to track down the capitals of Caelum and Man. When I get a chance, I’ll make more scouts for this area. There is a special magic site here (number four), near my base location, but the way in is limited, and I’m not positioned well for it; Man is closest.

On the coast, the Devils go in unsupported against the barbarians. The Amazon Sorceress is at the north (third) magic site and is searching. I am consolidating ground troops in the large coastal city for an advance down the coast; also hunting blood here.

In the north, the raiders are actually damaging my fort. I grab the Celestials and other troops and send them back to break up the siege if they can—it’s a long walk, though.

Elsewhere, I concentrate on infrastructure, building two Temples and a Lab. Oh, yes, an Arena fight (to ignore) begins.


TURN 38
Aha! The Amazon Sorceress found an E1D1 source at the magic site three. Finally! And oops! Forgot to renew my mercs! They’re all gone now. Rexor just appeared, so I will have to break the Bogus block with his barbarians. I don’t think this will work, though. I have to handle this personally—the Manticore moves out.

Typically, someone (Caelum in this case) sends their Pretender to the Arena fight: Wyrm with a Ring of Tamed Lightning. Ooch.

It worked, Caelum nailed two enemy Prophets. Idiots. Maybe I’ll buff and ambush the sucker next time there’s an Arena fight. I’ll need protection against poison…but is a Champion’s Trident worth it? And do I get it if my misc magic slots are filled? And if I don’t, am I forced back into the next Arena fight? I may do it just to test this.

In the northwest, with Orion gone, I have to commit the Devils. They are on their way, but I have to build a second unit or I won’t have a strategic reserve. I need another two Demonbred, one to build and one to lead, and probably at least one more Apprentice to blood hunt. This turn yielded lots of slaves. I could probably afford a Sanguine Rod or two now, which would improve my hunting. Also, I could use two or three more researchers.

My big global is at Evocation 8 (Second Sun), and I really need to be targeting it now. Also, now that I’m getting gems, it may be time to think about better magic items. Starting now, I split my research between Enchantment and Evocation. At Enchantment 5 (the Dispel spell), I will switch to Construction. At Construction 4 (Major Items), I will switch to Blood (Archdevils). So much for theory, we’ll see how this two-school advance plan works. I’ll phase into it as soon as I complete current work on my infrastructure.


TURN 39
A bad turn. The west coast force, Army Four, was destroyed and all three leaders slain! My fault for not sending in a spy to count numbers, the intelligence report was low again (like I had a spare spy!). I still killed about 35 of 50 defenders, but it will take me several turns to rebuild and several more to get into position to try this again.

In the northwest, I lost a Scout to Man, so I am effectively blind until another one gets here. Figure three moves. The Devils arrive. Since the Boar Mage mercenary is available, I will bid on him to be here. With the Devils and local troops, this should ensure the base and give me a shot at the special site nearby. The black candle is back, but since Orion built a Temple before he left, I recruit a cheap Priest to keep the locals in line. I’m going to recruit another cheap Priest to build a Temple in the Amazon province. It would be quicker than trying to schedule a Salamander priest at the capital and walking it out.

In the north, I don’t attack the Bogus raiders yet. Next turn, the Manticore will be in position, and a Salamander priest can join the attack, too. I order a Fire Salamander and some foot in the north fort; they will break siege next turn when the attack comes in...OK, so I forgot you can’t build while under siege; sue me. The Lizard Shaman builds a Lab in the northeast corner province (Lizard Men)—more Shamans will be showing up soon, I think.

My infrastructure work is almost done for now. My tenth temple is up. I think I need one more soon, since one of my temples is especially vulnerable. I can see that C’tis is also building Temples as fast as he can. Next turn, a Warlock, maybe two.

By the east bridge, the C’tis troop mix has changed: 60 Desert Rangers and Heavy Infantry. Seems quiet, though.

Next time: One Little Indian. Stay tuned