Turbocharged AI vs Humanities Last Hope - Running - Page 12

endomorphious · #1 February 12th, 2011, 03:37 AM

I was the last to process on last turn so just letting everyone know I'm done. New turn posted as well. The NPC's just keep getting tougher and tougher. Found a celestial emperor with an 8 and a 9 in magic paths and a @$$load of magic items. Just a touch of curiosity is there ANY way to charm these guys? This Emperor would be worth gambling 10-15 charm capable units dying. Is there a tip or trick to do it for C'tis?

With any luck I'll be building my second castle soon. Seem to have found the -heim's Capital they have a Colossal Head. Money is soooo tight I really hope the AI's hold off on any rushes against me. Research seems to be going VERY slow compared to SP games. I've only reached midway in const 1 so far.

NTJedi · #2 February 12th, 2011, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by endomorphious

Found a celestial emperor with an 8 and a 9 in magic paths and a @$$load of magic items. Just a touch of curiosity is there ANY way to charm these guys? This Emperor would be worth gambling 10-15 charm capable units dying. Is there a tip or trick to do it for C'tis?

Dispossed spirits to paralyze yet not kill the target while nature mages are spamming charm. Also other units to keep him busy which won't kill the target such as vine men(not vine orgres).
However the tough part would be reaching level_7 Thaumaturgy before one of the AI opponents carelessly kill this treasure.

endomorphious · #3 February 12th, 2011, 10:37 AM

Thanks Jedi. With the number of really notable npc commanders I've seen in such a short time I'm fairly tempted to pursue this tactic.

Gandalf Parker · #4 February 12th, 2011, 10:48 AM

You might also add fly or blink (or those sandals) to a mage so they can jump to the back of the enemies forces and are more likely to target a commander with the spell.

But I find that Charm or Hellbind Heart are spells that work best in one-on-one situations. Scripted to a seducer, or an assassin, or used in the Arena.

You still might want to invest some army into knocking out some of his support units in case the spell causes him to do battle with his own troops. But I still get better results this way than trying to use such spells in combat.

Hrum · #5 February 12th, 2011, 04:43 PM

Turn 10 is up.

Endo, what magic paths did he have at 8 or 9?

The craziest indie province I've seen so far down in my neck of the woods is one to the NW of my capital. A lich leading ~50 undead (longdeads, ghouls, skeletons, etc) is the filler. There are 5 fossilized warriors hanging with that lich (size 4 undead, with prot 27 on the body, 20 on the head, MR15, Mor18, Att12, Str22). And along for the ride are 2 basilisks. Never encountered any basilisks before - that gaze is scary! A rg20 aoe5 attack, w/ prec 100, it does 15 AN damage! The good news is that MR negates, but still. Ow. So, I don't think I'll be attempting that province real soon.

I guess I should acknowledge the province w/ ~120 devils, amazons and fire elementals and fire snakes too. It's led by an arch devil and some demonbreds. I haven't even bothered to do a retreat scout on that province, it's too ridiculous for me to worry about yet. Also, no point in bothering with the retreat order for a province like this. Devils = dead scout on turn 1 of combat.

Thanatus del Dragos · #6 February 13th, 2011, 02:22 PM

Atlantis has made landfall on my continent too. My growth has been slowed due to the Trolls on my doorstep, but in 2 turns, I will have researched Alt1 and Evo2, and will send in 3 giant kings spamming thunder and 15 giants and 15 unmarked to destroy them all.

Doo · #7 February 13th, 2011, 06:16 PM

Done my turn, new turn up.

Dagan was a priority for Astral, I'm recruiting Mictlan indy mages in my second castle hoping to get the 10% +1 Astral or +1 Fire types. If I get the Astral I'll let Dagan go without any fuss. Of course you could try and outbid me on him, not much I can do about that

Niefelheim is sieging an indy castle at 77.

At turn 12 I'm at 9 provinces (including starting province). I was blocked from going towards Tien Chi by tough indies, now I see there is a port route from 130 to 159. I'll go that way.

Research-wise, I've done Alt 1 and Evo 1 and 2. I've found a 20% bonus Conj site for future summons.

My pretender has just awakened.

All is good.

endomorphious · #8 February 14th, 2011, 08:44 AM

Turn 13 done. Posted turn 14.

Sigh kinda hemmed in by Niefel and tough indies. I have to choose between the dragon and his lackluster minions and a devils/scorpionman/chaff indie to attack all out. Dragon indie would allow me a narrow expansion area until Niefel hems me in...he's focusing very heavily along the south from what little i can see...50 unit expansion squad. couldn't scout it. I'll post exact numbers on the two indies next turn doing the retreat scout thing again to get the comparison. I've not taken a province in two turns and its starting to get worrisome. Have researched con3 though. YAY dwarven hammers..now if i just had the earth gems and not still using my pretender to expand/search.

I was reading the stickie thread regarding how to combat Niefel, and a specific mention of C'tis using Darkness and skellispam was mentioned. Was gonna focus on con6 and then Thaum7 for charm but now thinking I should go straight to Darkness. On a side note i saw mention of an amulet that was referred to as the skellispam amulet. Is it that week little one that only cast animate skeleton for one skellie? Is it even worth the waste of the gems? All my sauromancers can cast animate skeletons and that just seems to be a better way to go by far. But i could field some indie commanders with the amulets if they were considered to be helpful.

Thanatus del Dragos · #9 February 14th, 2011, 09:54 AM

I'm sending socuts, and I think Tien Chi is moving toward Tir, not me. I don't see them expanding my direction yet.

Mauxe · #10 February 14th, 2011, 10:51 AM

I am just slowly expanding in my own little world up here to the NE. My Caelum has a little slower expansion method but then it gets rolling. Right now I am probably at about 9 provinces.

My pretender has awoken and I saw immediately that I utilized version 1.0 of pretender design. Currently my Caelum design is up to 2.0 which will be a set-back but should be fine.

(1.0 is the mage-on-a-horse who does not have any boot wearing feet to speak of - this puts a damper on my +E boot strategy. 2.0 uses the crone who is slower... but she gets there on her own two feet. I have a second method but it just takes a little bit of time. Luckily due to my starting location it looks like I have that.)

Also - now that my initial expansion armies are built up I am able to start my research spam - which is essentially Eagle Kings (with the occasional...uh.. guy I can'r recall but only costs 80 gold.. for when I need to bolster a few more troops).

Looking fwd: to how this plays out.