Ulm SP AAR- Swords Vs. Sorcery

[boltcutter]

Turns 25-31: Quagmire.

Second Army strikes deeply and effectively. First Army gets thrown back to their base province with severe losses. I need to work on impatience and lack of focus. T'ien Chi breaks out with a small army and rampages through the former Mictlanese provinces. I do not have the resources to start a Third Army; eventually they run up against my northern bottleneck and are repulsed.

I start besieging the Dark Citadel where the TC Pretender, a lich, is locked up with less than 10 troops.

Unfortunately, TC's main army was out on campaign to the west. I go Myself with a few troops to intercept at the obvious blocking point.

I am destroyed. Ten Celestial Warriors come in and clean house. Looking at what went wrong:

1. I didn't bring enough troops. Two half-armies are no good. One Smith, a handful of troops [fled from the last wreck of First Army]- not enough.
2. I didn't concentrate on building up the province defense, despite knowing where the enemy would strike.
3. My physical form was not equal to the challenges. I was fighting in Dominion -8 [!] and so, instead of the 70+ HP I should have had, I had about. . .20.

This is the beginning of the end. There are three really large enemies- C'Tis, Pythium, and Jotunheim- remaining. Jotunheim's armies are starving, diseased, and miserable [my spies report] but still crushing Pangaea. I have very few priests, fewer temples, and many months before I can return as even a shadow of my old Self. I do not have the forces, I suspect, to hold TC against the armies coming home- never mind actually taking the Dark Citadel. [Can I wipe out an immortal Lich with multiple Blade Winds? I think that's what the question comes down to.]

The next on my decreasingly-plausible To Conquer list is Caelum. Their research has been spectacular and, even if their troops can only peck vainly at my armored masses, they undoubtedly have horrifying magical calamities waiting for me.

I suspect at this point my only option is stubborn, doomed resistance.

[RedRover]

Have been reading and enjoying.

Do hang in and keep fighting--I'm rooting for you. In my own AAR, things are going to hit the fan very soon. There are ways of fighting out of many tight corners. The Forum in particular can be a valuable resource.

Cheerio...




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Think outside the box? What's a box?

[boltcutter]

Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been busy with other things.

Update:

Turns 31-37: Restoration. My forces sweep back through and recapture the TC territory. First and Second armies meet up in the TC capital. The Celestials can be beaten with numerous Blade Winds and some sturdy troops to slow them down- perhaps 12 Blade Winds to 10 Celestials. I try my new plan of bringing reinforcements in before needing them.

Shopping: My loyal people buy Temples and Priests- I have almost none of each- and set them to restore Me. I create a new Prophet- much more heavily armored than the last- and bring up some Cavalry. My Smiths build a Crusher [disappointingly poor attack and defense skills] and a batch of Clockwork Horrors.

Two of My Spies discover the extent of Pythium and start spreading sedition- if I cannot directly destroy Pythium yet, I can at least slow them slightly. Another starts trouble in C'Tis.

Turns 37-41: The Two Front War.

I am restored!

My troops finally win a brutal war of attrition, breaking into the Dark Citadel of T'ien Chi and finding almost no resistance (I lost one Cavalryman to the lich's evil spells and perhaps a few footsoldiers to the Citadel's defenses.) I capture the Desert Eye itself and pin the T'ien forces in a single province.

And Caelum attacks. The southern bottleneck works well. I lose the province [26 Prov. Defense] but, of the 160 attackers, 20 are killed and many rout. In a bit of luck, one province up from there [Ulmwards], the local chief built a fortress with no prompting from me. The bottleneck that was taken was immediately next to T'ien Chi, where My army is pinned down in siege. Caelum attempts to continue the attack (towards Tienese territory )but is repulsed in the next province and, after T'ien Chi itself falls, is thrown back from the bottleneck. Unfortunately, I still had my Smiths dispersed and un-bodyguarded to lower the chance of losing some to the Citadel defenses. Two or three are slain, but two sets of Earth Boots are recovered for the next generation to step into.

In the Desert Eye, my new Clockwork Horrors face an unexpected threat before they can finish off the few [less than 10?] Tienese forces- Caelum attacks me [80 Caels vs. a Smith, a couple of heavy infantry, the Clocks and a handful of Province Defense.]

I did not realize that Clockwork Horrors gained 15 Fatigue per turn, every turn. Fortunately, the flying Caelumites surrounded them near-immediately and the Clocks inflicted great damage before getting smashed. Net result: Approximately 25 Caels killed, all my Clocks destroyed, no other casualties and the province is still mine.

I, Myself, created another miraculous bag of wine, and started moving south to the bottleneck with reinforcements. Soon I will step into T'ien Chi and empower Myself back to pre-death levels.

Enemy Status: Caelum has taken noticeable losses in troop strength. They have cast Dark Skies and their leader seems to [based on his Prophet] have significant Death and Air magic strength. C'Tis has a long border with me, and many large armies along it. Jotunheim has two short borders with me, a huge army, and has driven Pangaea near-literally into the ocean. Vanheim, and Pythium are vague future threats- Abysia shall not last long, I think.

Own Status: Outside of TC's resources, I have found another source of Earth gems [I'm up to 7/turn], and a source of Nature gems. I have a few other small supplies, including an embarassment of blood slaves. Gold is available in reasonable quantities- never as much as needed, of course.

Planning: I require more Smiths. Also, having proven that constructed troops are severely limited, I feel that contacting Trolls is my best bet for "advanced" troops. This will be a long and difficult time researching- My Smiths are almost all needed for war and I have only Conjuration 3. [One Smith is probably the equal of 30 Longbowmen right now, offensively.] My Dominion is weak- destroying the last vestiges of the lich lord of T'ien Chi is crucial.

I want to experiment with economic warfare- using Spies to lower Pythium's available gold and the like. Probably too little too late, but perhaps some defections will occur.

I will also be building a few Commanders to place in the border provinces- they will not survive determined attack, but at least my province defense will not be routed by a stray arrow in the first volley [as has happened.]

As far as my enemies: After Caelum [all going well] I must assault C'tis- all my gains in Mictlan and TC could be overrun easily by only a fragment of their strength, and I have only weak defenses in place.

[RedRover]

re: Two-Front War

Well, at least you're not attacking Russia in the winter.

re: Mechanical Men
Meat shields are even more effective when they are not actually meat.

[boltcutter]

What do you recommend for walking shields? The Crusher hasn't really been fieldtested- it looks like it is NOTHING but a damage sink, and might get ignored. The Clockwork Horrors were fun (SO fun!) but impractical. I don't know what I should be trying to research- I was thinking "Trolls" but I haven't committed to any path yet.

[thejeff]

It's not really thematic for Ulm, but I've had fun with Fall Bears. Tough and Ethereal. Pretty expensive though. Maybe Mechanical Men. Living Statues when you can get them.

Remember that Trolls cost upkeep.

[RedRover]

A Crusher will not be ignored (it may be swamped, but it won't be ignored). Enemy troops with Attack Rear orders may detach some units to go around it, but some will stay, and the Crusher will stump off in pursuit of the rest when it wins.

If you have never built a Crusher, I recommend building one, just so you can see it in action. They're slow, so consider putting it forward far enough that the rest of your shield gets up to it just before the enemy gets there.

If you are in a bad enough way that your forts are under siege, blocking the gates with several Crushers can brutalize the foe, especially if you have a long, narrow gate and a high rate of defensive fire. Unlike recruited troops, summons can appear directly in a besieged fort.

Likewise, sending in a Crusher or two directly against an enemy fort gate (as far forward as you can) while storming might get you in a little easier.

Ulm heavy infantry is pretty good, especially when bolstered by the Legions of Steel spell and Giant Strength. Trolls augmented by these spells are truly awesome in melee, but remain vulnerable to fire and spells. Both need priest support to keep their morale up.

I always considered the Clockworks a little fragile and prefer Mechanical Men if you have the gems (Living Statues are even better). Remember that constructs do not heal hit point damage normally after combat, but that Labs do fix them eventually, so don't ignore your infrastructure when using this troop type: build a few Labs along the way. A Crown of Command (Cons 4, S2) will let a normal commander lead constructs.

It isn't practical to make specific magic research recommendations without knowing your current level in each school, gem income, and research rate. Long term, look at Earth Attack--it's lots of fun squishing enemy commanders with this. Crumble can really embarrass an enemy hiding in a fortress, especially a tough one like a Mountain Citadel. Once you get to Construction 8, making a Philosopher's Stone (there can be only one!) will leverage your money favorably. Put it where you can find it quickly.

Seek out the Global that gives you Earth gems. Once you have this up, you will have a much easier time getting the really neat Ulm-thematic globals: the one that makes you rich, rich, rich, and the one that lets you forge things cheap. Running a Search or two of the forum on these should give you some ideas. I usually use a 2-year net, unless I'm digging further back for something specific.

[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.