Newb Casual Network EA Tyrande (Full and Playing)

[K]

The Utterdark was pulled off by a Vampire Lord (Death 3/Blood 3) with a Dark Scepter(+3 death), a Skull Hat(+1 Death), a Ring of Wizardry(+1 all Magic) and a Ring of Sorcery(+1 Astral/Nature/Blood/Death). I used a vampire because they are immortal and cure afflictions, but mostly because I could. He was also empowered with two points of Astral for the Astral Corruption.

Since I couldn't be sure of being able to make the Dark Scepter (its an artifact), I had an alternate plan to use Gorilon the Heliophagus(Death 4/Blood 3) with a Skull Staff(+1 Death), a Robe of the Archmagi(+1 all magic paths), a Skull Hat(+1 Death), a Ring of Wizardry(+1 all Magic) and a Ring of Sorcery(+1 Astral/Nature/Blood/Death). Since he's also unique, I could have also gone with a Lich or Lamia Queen(who often get Death 4).

In case anyone was curious, the Utterdark had an extra 250 gems in it and the Astral Corruption had an extra 450 blood slaves. I figured that with the AC coming up first, people would blow gems trying to knock it down, leaving a good few turns before they could make a reasonable attempt at the Utterdark, and by then they'd have no troops left. (on a side note, Kurgi the Slave to Unreason tried to kill me when I put up the Utterdark).

At the end of the game, I had enough money for four more turns of maintaining my regular army and mages, but I was making 200 blood slaves a turn with the potential for much more if no one knocked down the Utterdark and I was forced to move to an entirely blood-based empire.