Abysia CB 5.0 AAR

[RedRover]

shovah: The only wand I've mentioned specifically so far is the Wand of Wild Fire, which throws Fireballs, as per the spell. It's great for plugging holes in the line when faced with masses of cheap troops. I just got a little confused about when it becomes available (my fault, when I solo I generally don't have the item reference open).


TURN 30
In the north, I find my first Nature site—1 gem, but at least I have an income—C’tis forces are now visible to the southeast. I’ve taken the last choke point I’m going to get. By next turn, I’ll have enough money to start building. In the meantime, there’s one more province to clear—50 Heavy Foot/Archers. I’m going for it.

Hector is back. Crud—the men are about gone, over half are diseased and have 4 hit points or so. They have maybe one battle left, if it’s soon. I’m sending them northwest to hit the Amazons at the map edge—maybe they will kill a few before they die. No one’s coming back, though. Never buy a used merc!

All quiet on the northwestern front, which I’m pushing. All quiet at the east bridge. I will reach Conjuration 2 and Enchantment 2 next turn.

Scores: For provinces, Ulm is leading, followed by me (Abysia), C’tis, and Man. I hold 25 provinces, so I guess Ulm has about 30, C’tis about 20, and Man 17-18. For income, Ulm is first, I’m second, barely edging out Man, who apparently lost a province recently. Caelum is fourth. For gems, the top three are Ulm, C’tis, and Oceania in that order. There is a distinct second tier, with me, Caelum, and Man. For research, I’m running sixth (still). Arcoscephele has a huge lead; Man and Caelum are practically tied for second, with Caelum accelerating. Pythium, Oceania, and I form the next tier, all growing about the same pace. For dominion, Caelum is the clear leader, with Ulm, C’tis, me, and Pythium forming a second tier. C’tis is accelerating sharply. I’m growing slowly and unevenly here—I need to build more Temples.



TURN 31
Caelum bought Grom away from me, just as I won a battle and Grom found an enchanted pike. Figures. My guess is, Grom is about two-thirds used up, but there’s no way to check it now. This halts the attacks in the northwest—I’m just out of steady troops.

In the north, Hector dies and takes out only three Amazons. I start my northern base near the map corner, but west of the river (province #208) to block the river crossing. All my surviving mercenary contracts expire next month, which means I have only enough money left to start the fort. I can’t afford troops or other structures. Nothing else breaks, but I will probably commit the Devils to coastal projects when I have a few more of them.


TURN 32
In the northeast, the Celestials divert across the barrier river eastward to clear the last independents adjacent to the fort site, which is getting a Temple this turn. The Lizard Shaman also goes, with some archers built locally and some recently arrived Lizard Warriors.

In the capital, enough Blood Slaves are available for two more Devils (hunted in the capital, ouch!). I start collecting ground troops for a west coast campaign. The Green Horde is available and I scrape up enough to bid (it takes some alchemy). Remote scrying locates another 1-gem Nature site. Great! Random Earth gems! Double great!!


TURN 33
In the northeast, Celestials push on to the corner province, which has 50 Lizard Men, the other choices are an open province (40 Heavy Infantry and Cavalry), sit, or retreat. There are still two unknown provinces between C’tis and me, so we might split the difference on this one. I don't care, just so I have enough breathing space to finish the fort. The Temple is built, the Lab is going up this turn.

Northwest force sits, except for some scouting, but a big attack toward the west coast begins now (Fourth Army). The Green Horde, a Salamander (now that the Amazon Lab is done) and a Demonbred with 14 Devils should clean out the 40 Heavy Cavalry and Militia in the coastal town. After that, it’s southward along the coast—I might even get as far as the big forest before hitting someone else. We’ll see.

By the east bridge, a few new scouts are arriving and sneaking across the river. I can see two C’tis units of 40, but not much else. I’ll try to get a scout past the C’tis capital and see what’s south. My fort here has become home to my scrying efforts. Meanwhile, I should hit Enchantment 3 this turn.