Abysia CB 5.0 AAR

[RedRover]

shovah (re feeblemind): What's a game without a few bumps along the way?

As an old RPG friend used to say to us when the situation went sour:

"You're heroes. If it was easy, anybody could do it!"

(It does get worse. Read on...)



TURN 55
On the west continent, I recall my last Demonbred stationed here to my capital. Otherwise, I try to shore up my eroding dominion on this continent as much as possible, but it looks really bad: everywhere, black candles, tall and thick.

Overall, the northeast battles are going well enough, but my southern force, with most of my spellcasters, was hit by the huge undead army, led by the C’tis Pretender. Nasty battle, but eventually the Pretender (the Prince of freaking Death!) got to my command group and slaughtered them all, routing the foot troops, most of whom died in the rout.

I could have had a better tactical setup, but it’s too late now. The C’tis Pretender has a Staff of Storms, which grounded all my flyers. Good thing the Devils weren’t in on this battle, but that staff will greatly reduce the efficiency of my Devils when I do commit them.

C’tis still has 70 troops left here, plus 20 more adjacent to the east bridge fort, plus 70 more coming up from the south. These are the ones I can see. I don’t think that my combined forces on the ground can match his, nor can my afflicted Pretender take on his. Looks like I gambled and lost on this one, but I’ll play a few more turns and see what happens.

On the coast, building enough troops to take even one province is not possible. The war in the east swallows all my resources.

I notice that in two more turns I can have Blood 5. This will let me Send Lesser Horrors at the C’tis forces. I don’t think this will be much, especially against the Pretender, but right now it’s all I can think of.

Scores: For provinces, I lead. The second tier of Man, Pythium, and Ulm have leveled out in a tight group, C’tis is somewhat below them, but this will change radically once C’tis starts taking my provinces.

For income, I lead. Man is next, maybe 80% of my level. At maybe 60% is a tight pack of Ulm, Pythium, and Caelum. C’tis is sixth at about 30%, I hit him hard (*heh-heh*).
(Well, OK, the fact that Ghouls are eating his population is probably more relevant.)

For gem income, I clearly lead. Man is next at 70% of my level; C’tis and Ulm are tied at 50%.

For research, Arco leads, Caelum and Man are a neck-and-neck second at about 70%. I’m next at 45%, Pythium at 40%, C’tis about 25%.

For dominion, Ulm leads and is climbing well. Caelum is about 70% and fading. I’m about 55% and jerky, C’tis is about 45% and dropping, Pythium about 30%, Man 15%.

For armies, C’tis has lost about 5% off its 100% peak. I’m at about 12% total, so I had absolutely no business making this attack.

Oh, what shall I do? Stay tuned...

[Oversway]

This is a good read! Sounds like a very fun game.

[RedRover]

Oversway: Thanks. This game does have its moments. This is a holiday weekend, and I fully intend to overindulge in this sport.


TURN 56-60
A whirlwind of activity this time.

I drop Fires From Above on the biggest C’tis mass, then attack the province east of my east bridge fort. I also Send Lesser Horrors, two of them—they kill his Pretender!

His forces split into two large groups, one covering the way to his capital, and one poised to move north. I send two Lesser Horrors after the northern one, then split my own army: Abysians toward the C’tis capital, mercs and humans covering the east bridge crossing.

Meanwhile, I am raising Druids and making Sacks of Endless Wine, forging Skull Mentors as fast as I can, and building troops after laying in a major caster or two each turn. In particular, I start building super-heavy infantry at my main forts (so far I’ve been using the mediums). C‘tis sends major forces north to retake lost provinces, while I try to plug the chokepoint to the south. In this epic battle, I hold the field, but lose the Manticore. Drat!

I use the Devils for vertical envelopment of his largest force with limited success. Looks like there is no way I can save the Astral gem site—and I will be hard pressed to defend the northern fort. In the south he has two large armies, one has 380 troops-and his Pretender is back. The other has 280 troops. A lot of these troops are undead. I just can’t match his numbers, and the mass undead-killing spells are beyond me at this point. Things are getting hot.

[i][No score check this turn—I’m at war. Deal with it.]

[RedRover]

TURN 61-70

The western continent is quiet. Good.

By the east bridge, the Lesser Horror trick does not work so well when he has 500+ units. I have managed to destroy most of his northern forces, but more just keep coming. Devil production is slow, Lesser Horrors suck up much of my Blood Slave supply.

Along the coast, Arcoscephele dies by dominion snuff (!). (Don’t look at me, I didn’t do it!) I use scouts and flyers to grab as many unoccupied Arco provinces as I can.

Battle fatigue is setting in. By the end of turn 70, I have driven C’tis completely out of the north, though large blocks of troops (lots of undead) gather behind the river line south of the inland island.

I have broken up two major counterattacks here and killed the C’tis Pretender again. On the coast, I am building a fort north of of the Hundred Island crossing, and have discovered an abandoned coastal fort on my side of the next river line below the island. Advanced scouts see C’tis units two provinces east of the abandoned fort and inland. It’s a race—can I get to the abandoned fort first?

[No score check. I’m too busy.]

[RedRover]

TURN 71-80
All the action is on the East continent this period.

On the northeast/east bridge front, by hitting the C’tis with two Lesser Horrors a turn, I hold them off and kill lots of them. I need more Fire sites. If I can put up the Eternal Pyre global spell to get a Fire gem surplus, I can eventually cast Purgatory (Thaum 7) to keep the undead hordes under control. Most of the C’tis armies are Ghouls; without them his military would be insignificant, I think.

The timely arrival of the mercenary Arco phalanx (Agyraspides) allows me to siege and take the coastal fort before C’tis can get there. It turns out to be the old Arco capital; lots of Astral gems, and all for me! The irony makes me chuckle--in later histories (which I will write), we will be the liberators!

I take the whole small local area bounded by rivers, then start pushing south and east. I have my eye on another abandoned fort southeast of "Fort Arco" and inland (province #87). Also, my deep-ranging scouts detect that Ulm has crossed onto the eastern continent and is moving north. Cue the *Darth Vader theme*, Ulm is on the march!

A second timely arrival, God’s Enforcers, allows me to besiege and take the inland fort! Hah! It has a laboratory and Azure Wizards—I finally get a Water site searcher! Incidentally, I have built a force of Shamblers, equipped a Salamander priest with a Ring of Water Breathing, cleared the waters around the magic site island, and built an underwater Temple there (a full 50 turns after I took the island magic site!). If I can send Lesser Horrors to a C’tis coastal province and rout the army there, the Shamblers can pop out and raze another C’tis Temple or two.

Turn 78, the C’tis Pretender pulls off a vertical envelopment of my main army on that front, materializing behind it with 120 Ghouls. Holy crud!

I hit him with four Lesser Horrors and try to break through to friendly lines. Without waiting, he moved north, destroying my local troops there, so the trapped army didn’t catch him, but he didn't annihilate my most important army, either.

Of note: The commander of my Devils had picked up a Lycanthropos Amulet turns earlier, which I ignored (bad idea). He changed and charged berserk in this battle, dying immediately. This stranded my big Devil unit (by "big" I mean 14-15) next to 1,020 hostile troops (three provinces full of Ghouls). Worse, the commander had been carrying a Cauldron of Endless Broth, so the rest of my army, now one province north, starved next turn! My main force followed the enemy Pretender, while the leaderless Devils basically fought a round and retreated when they were attacked the next turn.

In the center of the east continent, the two mercenary phalanxes from the coast circle the mountain block north of the big desert in opposite directions. I may not be able to hold this ground, but grinding up the C’tis temples in this area is my main goal, anyway. Best case, I will clean him out west of the river line near his capital and meet Ulm coming up the continent. I am now working toward a number of goals: Eternal Pyre/Purgatory/Second Sun, the Faerie Court/Couatl, binding Arch Devils, Mind Slay (for the Manticore, once I fix him).

My gold income on turn 81 is 1,014 gold, gems: 10F/3A/3W/7E/9S/8D/6N, and I'm pulling an average of 30-40 Blood Slaves.

My earlier panic has subsided. I'm feeling like things are starting to come under control, though there is much to do. Finally some breaks are going my way.

[Scores? Maybe later...]

[shovah]

i know its a little late now but if you ever need magical dicversity you should trying going for lamia queens

[RedRover]

shovah: Thanks for the suggestion. At this stage in the game, I've been grabbing every tool I can to put C'tis down, although bludgeoning him with Lesser Horrors has been my most successful strategy so far. (I'm afraid I will get no awards for finesse or style this game!)

I am at this point mostly set up for Fire and Blood magic--most of my Nature magic is going into supply items--the C'tis ghouls have really stripped the eastern provinces--I can hardly go into them without starving. I don't have a lot of Death magic, either, and most of my Death gems at this point are going into Skull Mentors to boost my research so I can get things like the Eternal Pyre and Faerie Court (to un-feeblemind the Manticore). We may see some Lamias before I am done, though.
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TURN 81-90
I take the desert province southeast of Fort Azure. I also put pressure on the C’tis west river line. By disrupting his large armies of undead with Lesser Horrors, it is now proving fairly easy for my much smaller ground forces to push into his provinces and raze his Temples.

I won’t get much from the C'tis nation provinces, because all his Ghouls are killing his population and making his provinces useless for supply and taxes. Also, putting more than two Lesser Horrors into a province has proved to be a waste, unless his Pretender is there.

On the south continent, it looks like Pythium got the green west half and Ulm got the desert right half. My deep scout looking for capitals down there is discovered and slain, I quickly send another.

Turn 88-89 sees the decisive battle for the C’tis capital. After taking the province and besieging the fort on turn 88, I am pushed out by a huge force of Ghouls. I kill the C’tis Pretender for the fourth time. I have units enough left to launch one final attack on turn 90, preceded by four Lesser Horrors and a Horde from Hell; there were still 1,040 undead of various types in the capital.

The province fell again and, even with no C’tis relief forces left, I haven't got enough troops left for an assault, so I choose to go for a strategic dominion snuff, and start constructing Temples. *wheeze*

Side Note: One of my really good Salamander Priests picked up the !@#$%@# Lycanthropos Amulet after the capital battle. I thought I was rid of that thing! (WE are NOT amused...)

On west continent, the Fish Fort (remember that?) is finally finished, and I start building Ichtyids there. This may not bode well for Caelum and Man, since control of the ocean provinces is one of my milestones on the way to extended west continent operations. Stay tuned...

[I have been slacking off on the score graphs. I'll do them next time, promise.]

[shovah]

i thought commanders kept magic even if they morphed? o well. and if possible you might like to try swapping to normal horrors soon (research allowing). after reading most of your report i started my own abysia game and am currently owning with sending horrors and lots of assasins (but on a smaller map, urgaia to be exact) and with 2 6000 pop provinces with 3 hunters each i can easily meet my slave demand, its around turn 70 and ive just got pyre up and im cranking out spells and items now

i also found a site right next to my base to let me get shadow seers (S3) and grey knights (etheral 30 move knights) and have been making etheral crossbows for assasins (which i believe warlocks may also make)

[RedRover]

TURN 91-100
At beginning of turn 91, I have 1,300 gold income, gem income 33F/5A/10W/11E/12S/11N/12D + 39B (this turn).

Incidentally, I been leaving out a few details about the C'tis war. In addition to the Lesser Horrors, I have been profligate in my use of Fires From Afar. I've been dropping 1-3 of these a turn on C'tis armies as well, and killing 7-13 troops a pop. At 10 Fire gems each, this has been keeping my Fire gem supply in the 50-80 gem range, although it has been as low as 30 on the high-panic turns. You don't question the waste factor when the game is on the line, but this is a terribly inefficient way to use Fire gems. (No, finesse has definitely not been my strong suit this game.)

Now I will build for war with Man (who seems to be doing better than Caelum), and absorb the C’tis holdings, such as they are. I’ve learned how effective blood sacrifices are to spread my dominion, so this slows up Devil and Arch Devil summoning, as I divert slaves to this activity.

The Blood Sacrifice process is a pain, though. I have to pool Blood Slaves or spend a lot of time finding individual hunters, but pooling means I have to reload every single priest who is using the Blood Sacrifice command in a province with a Lab. The only way to keep play moving that I can see is to load a priest with Blood Slaves, move into a province before it has a Lab, and totally convert it to my dominion first. Sheesh. I hope that’s changing in Dom 3. Nothing like having to deal with something like this to drive home a point.

On turn 100, my income is 1,252; down a little because blood hunting is up; gem income 34F/5A/10W/13E/14S/15N/14D + 42B this turn.

The C’tis Pretender is finally snuffed this turn. I own the East!

In the west, Man enters the seas with a huge force (60 Trolls and 2 Sea Kings); my assassins also reveal he has a 130 troop aquatic force on his coast, still uncommitted. Phooey! I needed to clean out the ocean Independents before he got active. I have been taking old Oceania provinces in the south—these are in the 200-300 Unrest range, and have scant production. I think I have the capital fort province, in the narrows between the east and south continents, but since I’m using only Water wizards, I can’t get into the fort until I build Sea Trolls. I have small Ichtyid forces building on the northeast coast of the west continent at the Fish Fort, but at the rate of 3-4 Ichtyids per turn against 60 Triton Guards in the only adjacent sea province, it’s taking a while to build up.

The inland island magic site on the east continent has been producing Shamblers, but with no leaders, I’ve had to walk over Fish Men commanders from the west continent. I expect Man will likely grab most of the seas between us, greatly complicating the defense of my coast.

I’ve been hit by several Earthquakes recently—this is most likely Ulm, although I caught a Pythium spy as far north as Hundred Isle a few turns back. I’ve strengthened a lot of my PD to 10 to stop infiltration, and I'm slowly seeping southward through the desert. (Say THAT at 4 am!)

I finally get my Faery Court. The Manticore comes back, too, without the Feeblemind (I forgot you sometime lose afflictions when a dead Pretender is revived). I ignore the irony, and fly him over to the old C'tis capital, where I put him to work as a researcher. He needs the rest, and insists on being re-empowered as soon as possible. The C'tis capital province is completely dead, population 0.

Meanwhile, I think I have located all the capitals except Pythium, and have gotten a small foothold in a major city on the north coast of the southern continent (the one just east of the north coast special site).

I cannot expand from there without coming directly between Pythium and Ulm. Since they are at war and touch at only two chokepoints (the other is blocked by an Ulm fort), I think putting myself between them would be a bad idea. So I’m just building a Citadel in the city and will use it as a Blood Slave source. In keeping with my earlier thinking, I’m not building a Lab here until the dominion is securely mine through blood sacrifice. I assign a Demonbred to shuttle Blood Slaves to the occupying priest.

As a side note, I’m building a rainbow mage in the capital (Demogorgon 1F/0A/2W/2E/3S/1D/1N/3B—he’s getting Fire empowerment this turn, but it will be a while for Air). By the time I get Construction 8, he should be able to build a lot of the artifact items himself. My Schools: Conj 8, Alt 1, Evo 8, Cons 7, Ench 6, Thaum 5, Blo 6.

Also, my Salamander priest with the Lycanthropos Amulet turned Skinshifter, so I forge a lot of magic items to equip him as a thug. Empowered a mage for Air site searches, and top Fire priest for the Second Sun spell. I forgot to pay the mercs again and they all left (too bad, I had built my Faerie Court and the Celestials were being healed).

Scores:
For provinces, I dominate. Man is second at about 50%; Ulm at 45%; Pythium about 22%--the war has been going badly for him; Caelum last at 5%.

For income, I lead, Man 95+%; Ulm about 45%; Pythium 15%.

For gem income, I am first and hyperaccelerating--the Eternal Pyre is in place. Man is next at 45%; Ulm 40%; Pythium about 5%.

For research, Man leads; I'm next at 90%; Pythium 30%; Ulm 15%.

For dominion, Ulm leads, but is stagnant. I’m about 80% and climbing. Caelum has gently faded to 35%. Pythium and Man are about 15%.

For armies, Man leads by a wide margin. Ulm 50%; I’m 25%; Pythium 15%; Caelum 10%.

I dominate the Hall of Fame, with two live and three dead heroes. Man is next, with two live heroes. The Caelum Pretender is here—and has been killed six times! Obviously, Man holds his capital, and is just killing him as he returns each time. The C’tis Pretender is here, too--I killed him five times, and good riddance. Finally, Pythium owns the top spot by virtue of Orion’s death on his watch, many, many turns ago.

[RedRover]

shovah: The problem with the Demonbred with the Cauldron was that he died, and the Cauldron was not recovered. A cursed shapeshifter doesn't use magic, he charges and melees--and Demonbreds can fly, so he just tried to take on the whole freaking C'tis army by himself, and they killed him.

Apparently the Lycanthropos Amulet was picked up by a C'tis commander, because--as you can see by the latest post--I've got it again.

The reason I'm going the Thug route with the Salamander Priest is that I can't rely on him to cast magic anymore. Since when he changes he's going to charge into melee anyway, and since he won't outrun his support, I may as well give him enough tools to do some damage. I suppose there are better commanders to give magic to, but I roleplay my solo games, and I like the way that doing this fits into the story of my Ascension War.

At this point Doom Horrors (Blood 8) are two levels beyond me--remember this is a low-magic game and research is very slow. Will you see them? A very safe bet, IMO...

I am jealous of your Shadow Seers, the coolest independent I've gotten has been the Azure Mages.

I occasionally make Ethereal Crossbows. As I recall there was a bug in them that prevented them from working properly. I have no idea if it was ever fixed. I still build them every once in awhile for thematic purposes, but tactically I really can't say I've ever seen concrete results from them. I haven't made any this game.

I have been keeping a reserve of Astral gems for dispelling enemy globals, and even though I haven't seen any of those, I am reluctant to use more Astral gems than I absolutely need. I have tapped my supply on occasion to make Fire gems, or add enough other gems (4-8?) to rush an Empowerment, but I try not to do that, as there are some really nice Astral globals that have hit my radar screen.