AAR-Neophyte with Caelum

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by Inigo Montoya:
Having a prophet with a level of 4 is going to spread your dominion much faster than making a prophet from a Storm General.

This is only true if your prophet is preaching, which means that it is not available that turn to cast fanaticism in a battle.

[Wyatt Hebert]

Turn 2 Report:

My scout sends back the report that ~30 Militia and Crossbowmen are in the Farmlands province, so I will be sending the mercenary unit south to try and take them out. I again have him skip around to the west, to check out the plains in that direction. (He's moving to province 97)

I give one air gem to my Prophet, and one to my new Seraph. Then I do a bit of unit location maintenance. I move the 10 Spire Horn Warriors I started with to the Seraph, and lump all 18 of my Caelian archers on the prophet (Storm General), as well as the 6 Wingless. I also move the Archers to the side, for enfilade fire.

As I mentioned above, I send the militia Mercs south, against an estimated 20 light infantry and crossbowmen, and I also set them as far forward on the setup map as possible. The prophet and Seraph are moved NW against an estimated 20 militias and archers. The Spire Horn Warriors are on Hold/Attack orders, the Wingless are guarding, and the Archers are on fire closest. The Seraph is scripted to cast Wind Guide.

The new Mercenary unit Urgek's Beast Brothers (I think it's called... the Foul Spawn) are available, and I hire them so that they can take the shock hit from some Barbarians next turn when my main army hits them. I also hire another Seraph, 5 more Wingless, and 6 more Caelian Archers.

That's most of the orders for Turn 2.

Now for my explanations (and, experienced guys, bear with me... this is probably all old-hat to you guys).

First, I gave the air gem to the Seraph because it's required for Wind Guide (which, for the other neophytes out there, increases the precision of all of your troops on the battlefield). I gave the gem to the prophet because I don't want the Seraph wasting any when it casts Air Shield (as I knew it would). This gives me an endurance of two turns before needing more gems.

Second, the Horn Warriors are Hold/Attack to give the archers a chance to damage the enemies before they engage, and they aren't that well protected, so I'm trying to keep down on casualties. Also, something that you can't know is that I went NW with the main army due to a rather nice income in that Forest province. At least, that's what was reported. I'll be happy to answer any other questions about my proposed moves. Let's hope they work out.

Wyatt

[Gandalf Parker]

I always try to send some sort of commander with mercs. Even if they dont do any fighting. Even a scout on open movement if nothing else is nearby. No reason to waste the experience and possible hall of fame bonuses.

[ March 27, 2004, 15:01: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

[Wyatt Hebert]

Thank you, Gandalf, for pointing that out. Unfortunately, I'm spread a wee bit thin right now, and am hoping to expand very quickly, so some sacrifices need to be made.

It was not a point I had thought of previously (though I tended to send lvl 3+ Priests with mine to keep them from breaking), and I will keep it in mind.

Turn 2 aftermath and turn 3 orders going to be posted soon.

Wyatt

[Inigo Montoya]

Originally posted by Graeme Dice:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Inigo Montoya:
Having a prophet with a level of 4 is going to spread your dominion much faster than making a prophet from a Storm General.

This is only true if your prophet is preaching, which means that it is not available that turn to cast fanaticism in a battle.

---

Not true. A prophet is like a mobile temple. It gives you a temple check every turn in whatever province the prophet is in. You can preach in addition, but preaching cannot spread dominion to other provinces -- it only affects the province in which preaching occurs. This is why your prophet is second in importance to your God in Dominions. The third most important factor is how many temples you have. Preaching is helpful in specific provinces, but as far as spreading dominion to neighboring provinces (not counting the Restless Worshipers special dominion), all you have is your God, your prophet, your capital and temples.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Wyatt Hebert]

Ok, I'm going to try and post this kind of like Arryn's later Posts. A post for results of my orders, then a post for the new orders for the turn. I'll post it like (Turn 2 Aftermath) and (Turn 3 Orders) or something.

Anyways, Turn 2 Aftermath.

I have been blessed by accurate intelligence. The Prophet and Seraph engage 9 Militia, 5 Archers, 3 HI, and 3 Commanders (I'll only post their equipment if asked), for a total of 20 enemies. I have, iirc, 18 Caelian Archers, 10 Spire Horn Warriors, and ~6 Wingless (who guard).

The enemy shoots off a volley, which doesn't even reach me. My return volley (after Wind Guide goes up) does seemingly no damage, but luckily for me, it breaks both the enemy militia and the archer squad! (Stray arrow hit an archer who advanced due to range). My second volley does no apparent damage to the advancing HI/Commanders, and my third volley does nothing but hit (damage, and afflict) one of my Spire Horn Warriors, who just charged. The Warriors then proceed to clean up the enemies, and I take no fatalities in the process.

The mercenary Burelk, in the meantime, hits 5 Crossbowmen, 2 HI, 15 Light Infantry (with Javelins), and 3 Commanders. I lose 6 of the mercenary militia taking the enemy out, and I'm up two provinces.

I finished researching Evocation Level 1, and am heading to level 2. Currently, my research plan is to get Evo 2, then Alt 2 (as I think it's kinda pointless to have quickness with nothing to cast), and then possibly Const 2, to get Owl Quills. I'd appreciate feedback concerning this plan.

Lastly, I find Ulm's second province just north of my prophet's province, which means I have my work cut out for against some of the best infantry in the game. If the computer is smart and goes for the shielded infantry, my archers won't be worth nearly as much. imo, this means that Mammoths are even more important to get started, because I think they'd do a decent level of damage to Ulm. Feedback on this is also appreciated.

My orders for turn 3 are coming up.

Wyatt

[Wyatt Hebert]

Inigo, you are correct in all ways I think except one.

iirc, temple checks (due to anything) are not based on the prophet's priest level. They are based on your max dominion. In that case, the extra turn I get from the prophet is a direct advantage, and the only benefit of the Seraphine is her stealth. I think I'm going to need all the research I can get, so I'm working on that end. Besides, it's done, but I appreciate all the dialogue. As I said, later in the game, my plan is to replace the SG prophet with a Seraphine... who I'll use to Dominion push against Abysia/Machaka types (who like Heat).

That's my understanding of it.

Wyatt