AAR: Time of the Ice Giants

[sachmo]

Originally posted by Norfleet:
Wow, a turn a week. This is gonna be a LOOOOOOOOOONG game.

Blame Eastside Hockey Manager.
But it's not the destination that's important, it's the journey, right?

EDIT: Wanted to point out something else...I started writing Rise of the Remorhaz Society (linked in my signature) on June 22nd, 2002. I may be slow, but I'm persistant!

[ July 08, 2004, 13:25: Message edited by: sachmo ]

[Unknown_Enemy]

BUMP.

Sachmo, are you already gone on holiday ? Or were you slaughtered ?

[sachmo]

No, not holiday. The wife was feeling neglected, and NHL Eastside Hockey Manager came out early this month!

This AAR is not dead.

[sachmo]

Turn 10
Winter, Year 1

Rhyvinter saw that the enemy fortress was guarded by a very small army. His commanders begged him to attack, to wipe the Mictlan capitol from the face of the world. They Mictlans had moved the bulk of their forces northwest and had attacked the independents in Ligrea, conquering that province. Rhyvinter was quite temped to press the attack, but decided to wait.
“We shall continue to build up our forces here. We will build a magic lab here, and a fortress while building up our armies. We will do our best to hide this from them, and not make the suspicious. Then, when we are ready, we will strike and crush them while the bulk of their forces are far from their fortress.

The commanders considered this, and saw the wisdom of Rhyvinter’s words. Thus they began preparations for hiding their true strength from the Mictlans.

Treasury: 391
Income: 432 (+13)
Provinces: 13

Gunnhild the hag cast Reanimation in Jotunheim. These undead forces would be dispatched to the Mictlan front as soon as possible.

Event: The winter in Pholothras was mild, allowing trades ease of travel and more livestock than usual to survive. This increased the tax collection by 50 gold and decreased unrest in the province.
The locals were convinced that the mild winter was a gift from Rhyvinter, and his presence was viewed with favor. This made Visbur’s preaching more effective, increasing the dominion in the province to 4.

Scouts in the province of Dust Hills witnessed the forces of Pangaea conquer the province. The forces were led by Peisandros, the Centaur Cataphract prophet. The scout was impressed by his power, and left in awe of him. The satyrs and War Minotaurs used their speed to outflank the infantry, cutting them down by the dozens.

A force of an unobserved nation attacked the province in the Old Man Mountains. They were human, armed with iron weapons. Some of the forces appeared to be slave-warriors. They conqured the province with a minimum of losses.

However, Rexor and his barbarian troops could not tell the conquerors from the conquered, and quickly dispatched the majority of these troops and claimed this province for Jotun. Only by examining the dead was it surmised that these soldiers were from the nation of Pythium. How Pythium would respond to this attack was unknown.

Scouts in Illidar watched as Boneater, the prophet of Ermor, lead a huge force of Spectral Forces against the province. The scout recounted the attack, decribing a scene out of a nightmare, where the troops fought ghosts with weapons that were barely effective. The province was conquered.

A new Herse was recruited in Jotunheim, known as Coffee Warlord. This young Herse was famous for his quick temper as well as his technical prowess. He would head to the front and command an army for the assault on Mictlan.

A scout was also recruited in Jotunheim. He immediately set out the northwest provinces.

Kingfc22 began constructing a magic lab in Pholothras. When completed, they would be able to recruit Sages, who would help greatly with research and also as combat mages for the assault on Mictlan.

Rhyvinter began to search Pholothras for magic sites.

Visbur continued to preach, spreading dominion throughout the provinces, and hoping to steal some believers from the Mictlan faithful. This would make Rhyvinter much more powerful, and Nobb less so. The rituals continued night and day in the temples of Pholothras.

Farbaute set out for Inarime, where he would recruit forces for the assault on Mictlan.

Spies in the land of man spotted their ruler and pretender god, Bethred the Vampire Queen. He also found that their fortress was lightly guarded and noted the defense strength. He then moved further east.

Horvan the Jotun Scout found the capitol of Pangaea. He set out to infiltrate the province and gather information on the forces there.

Fjollvitner the scout also discovered the capitol of Ermor, and also made to infiltrate this province.

Rexor and his barbarians marched to the province of Lithia, to hopefully conquer it before the forces of Pythium could.

Godzilla Blitz and his forces were ordered to attack the independent province of Bithyne, defended by a modest force of Hoburgs.

In Inarime, a force of 8 archers was recruited.
In Temiglia, a priest was recruited.
In Jotunheim, a Herse was recruited.

[ July 27, 2004, 15:42: Message edited by: sachmo ]

[Schmoe]

Originally posted by sachmo:
Turn 10
Winter, Year 1
Treasury: 391
Income: 432 (+13)
Provinces: 13

(snip...)

In Inarime, a force of 80 archers was recruited.
In Temiglia, a priest was recruited.
In Jotunheim, a Herse was recruited.

How did you recruit 80 archers, a priest, and a herse, with only 391 gold?

[sachmo]

I probably should have made a note earlier about my scale...

For independant troops, each figure represents 10 soldiers. So, when I recruited 80, it was really only 8 figures.

I'm still trying to figure out the scale. Each giant figure represents 2 figures, but I haven't been consistant with that in my turn recount. I'll probably just use actual units recruited in the writeups, but change the scale for battles.

Sorry for the confusion!!

[Schmoe]

Originally posted by sachmo:
I probably should have made a note earlier about my scale...

For independant troops, each figure represents 10 soldiers. So, when I recruited 80, it was really only 8 figures.

I'm still trying to figure out the scale. Each giant figure represents 2 figures, but I haven't been consistant with that in my turn recount. I'll probably just use actual units recruited in the writeups, but change the scale for battles.

Sorry for the confusion!!

No problem, thanks for the clarification. I've been reading these AAR's to try to figure out how people have 12+ provinces, 2 castles and a third in the queue, plus 70+ research all by turn 10. It just doesn't seem possible to me.

There was another Jotun AAR I was reading where the author said he commissioned a temple, recruited a Gygja, recruited 3 or so spearmen, and raised PD, all with a treasury of only about 400 gp, so I'm just trying to figure out what I have been missing. Your "scale" makes much more sense, thanks.

[sachmo]

Turn 11
Late Winter, Year 1

Godzilla Blitz and his host met the little folk of Hoburg outside of a village on the outskirts of Bithyne. Some of the giants laughed when the saw the wee folk dressed in armor and wielding tiny weapons, but Godzilla Blitz was wiser than that.
“See the commanders, you fools? They have weapons of power! Do not take these foes lightly!”
Most of the giants with him were humbled. They could see the magical glint from the pike held by one of the Hoburg Champions leading the enemy forces. That pike would cut through a giant quickly. The time for mirth was over, and the giants formed a battle line, growling and shouting war chants as they prepared to take on the Hoburg forces.
But the Hoburg’s proved to be just as fierce. The Burgmeister Guard charged, shouting high-pitched warcries in their own language, but the intent was clear. They would fight these giants to the death, and were not to be counted on to flee from battle. They swarmed one of the Hirdmen, raining blows upon him with their small maces. The Hirdman chopped the Hoburg soldiers to pieces, but they were many. Finally his shield was smashed, and as he went to throw it away, the Hoburg Champion appeared with his magic pike and slashed at the Hirdman, taking his arm at the shoulder. The wounded Hirdman fell, but before he could be overwhelmed, the rest of the giants broke through the ring of tiny men and rescued their fallen comrade.
The battle quickly turned against the Hoburgs, as they soon found themselves surrounded by giants, and were slaughtered.
Finally, all that stood were the Hoburg Champions and a few crossbowmen. Godzilla Blitz stepped into the ring and offered to accept the surrender of the little men.
“You have fought bravely, but you will surely die if you continue to resist. Surrender now, or die.”
The Hoburg Champion with the magic pike spit at Godzilla Blitz and swung his weapon at his head. The Jarl avoided this blow and swung his own sword at the Champion. He used his pike to parry the blow, but the force of the Godzilla Blitz’s blow sheared the magic weapon in half and carried on into the chest of the Hoburg. He fell instantly, his lifeless eyes staring into the sky.
Godzilla Blitz lowered his sword and pointed it at the remaining Hoburgs.
“No more chances! Drop your weapons or die!”
A few of the crossbowmen dropped their weapons, but the remaining commander and his men would have none of it. They charged Godzilla Blitz, screaming their war cries and unleashing a Last, desperate missile attack against him. The giants moved to protect their commander, and took down the remaining Hoburgs, leaving the Champion to face the Jarl. The Hoburg commander fought with fury, but the giant was much too powerful for him. In moments, Godzilla Blitz ran him through. As he looked down at the lifeless body, he noticed that the commander was wearing a ring that seemed to radiate power. This ring Godzilla Blitz took for himself, and the magic writing on it told him that it was a Ring of Tamed Lightning, which would give him almost total protection against shock attacks. As he put it on his finger, he smiled. The spoils of war were indeed sweet this season.

Treasury: 431
Income: 519 (+87)
Provinces: 15 (+2)

Rhyvinter found no magic sites in Pholothras.

Brigands have taken up residence in the Farseer Mountains. This increased the unrest in the province to 33. Coffee Warlord was dispatched from Pholothras to deal with the scum. The tax rate in this province was also reduced to zero, to help combat the unrest.

Rexor and his barbarians took the province of Lithia. They were faced with a force of mixed infantry, at least two hundred strong. The barbarians won the day, losing twenty (two) of their own number. The province was claimed for Jotunheim. Once the battle was over, Rexor was released from his contract, free to seek employment elsewhere.

Horvan the scout was caught in Pangaea, and killed as a spy by their forces.

Rhyvinter went north into the province of Inarime to search for magic sites.

Kaspar the spy headed west from Inarime to scout the lay of Mictlan lands.

Gunnhild the hag began forging a Skull Talisman for use by one of the commanders in the upcoming battles.

Kingfc22 was ordered to assist in researching.

A Sage was recruited in Pholothras.
Visbur began construction a Fort in Pholothras.

Fjollvitner the scout discovered that the pretender of Ermor was a powerful lich.

Havok the Jotun Herse joined the cause in Jotunheim. He was ordered to join Coffee Warlord in the bandit hunt in the Farseer Mountains.

A spearman was recruited in Jotunheim.

[ July 30, 2004, 05:10: Message edited by: sachmo ]

[sachmo]

Turn 12
Early Spring, Year 2

Havok and Coffee Warlord destroyed all of the brigands in the Farseer Mountains. These bandits were the remains of the forces defeated in the neighboring independent provinces. They had hoped to wage a guerilla war against Jotunheim, but were unprepared for the strength of the belief of the population in Rhyvinter’s cause. In the end, their agitation of the citizens was but a flea bite to the cause of the giants…

Treasury: 358
Income: 463 (-56)
Provinces: 15


This was a pretty uneventful month.

Rhyvinter arrived in Inarime. He began to search for magic sites. He was again very tempted to assault the Mictlan capitol, but not until the frontier was strengthened and the fortress was finished in Pholothras.

In Phholothras, a sage was recruited. His specialty was Air Magic. He immediately began researching in the Lab, allowing Kingfc22 to search for magic sites in the province which Rhyvinter had been unable to uncover.

Coffee Warlord and Havok marched on the independent province of Kratas, which was defended by a medium sized force of Barbarians. Vitiges the Priest marched from Ard with a force of 3 light infantry to lend his holy spells to their fight.

The defense in Old Man Mountains and Halemyer was raised to 11.
The defense in Lithia and the Forest of Gun was raised to 10.

Two light infantry and two archers were raised in Inarime.

If Kratas were taken, it would be the Last independent province ripe for conquest. Soon, war with one of the major nations would begin.

[sachmo]

Overview of the game so far:



As you can see, we're going to have to take something from someone other than the indies soon.

[ August 01, 2004, 05:08: Message edited by: sachmo ]