Abysia CB 5.0 AAR

[RedRover]

TURN 49
A new arena fight! I didn’t get a chance to buff the Manticore, so I’m not going. Also, C’tis is tying the Manticore down to defensive duties.

On the west continent, I stay defensive. I’ve decided to try for a second fort (in the Fish province), and will start with a Temple because my dominion is so low here. Next, I’ll put in a lab so I can get gems and item production rolling. After that, we will see.

On the west coast of the east continent, I’m off to a rocky start. God’s Justice isn’t that good against Heavy Infantry. My normal troops hit the line slightly first and are ground up, then the mercs start taking hits. Without magic support, I may not have won this (Will’o Wisps surprise me with their effectiveness—I’ve become a fan, plus the graphic is cool). Nonetheless, I advance against the second Plains province, because it’s in range of a small force of Devils I can fly in. Arco just stands there this turn, so I may have a shot at the big city.

On the northeast front, I’m going to build a Lab under the Manticore (province #195), so I can guard and research at the same time. I may even fortify here if the peace lasts long enough. I have scryed a place I already checked—I’m doing this far too late at night. One more turn, I think, and I’ll take a break. Magnus shows up, I stay defensive in the northeast, and C’tis leaves two moderate garrisons. We stare at each other.

Free Nature gems this turn. I can use them! There is barely enough money to cover the mercs this turn. I can’t afford to lose the Wind Master, so I delay the Fish Temple and put the rest of the money into more troops. I also start forging: A Girdle of Might and Horror Helm for the Manticore, and a Wand of Wild Fire for the defense of the northeast or the east bridge.

Current Gem Income: 7F1A1W2E5S5D2N. Gold Income 1,042 this turn. I hit a performance wall and end the session.

[RedRover]

TURN 50
New developments on west continent! Man is definitely at war with Caelum. A force of 20 Blackhawks from Man has replaced the Caelum Militia next to my fort. All my provinces within flight range of this province now need to be proofed against this attack.

It’s just as well I didn’t try the Arena. Caelum’s pretender has almost 500 hit points and regenerates 17 per round, in addition to being lightning- and poison-proof. My 230-point Manticore would have been chutney.

On the west coast of the east continent, I can now see why Arco stopped. The big city’s garrison is 100 Barbarians. I divert my attack line into the smaller inland town (20 Militia/Light Cavalry). Apparently, Arco has only a small bridgehead in this area. I have to seal that off as quickly as possible, so I can mop up the remaining Forest provinces on my own schedule.

For the second turn running, the blood hunts are dry. I pull from the sacrifice pool to summon a single Devil this turn. I *must* solve this blood hunting issue. Interestingly, a Blood economy thread has started on the Forum. Just what I needed!

Scores: For provinces, I lead. Ulm (declining), Man (rising), C’tis (stagnant) and Pythium (dip down), form a second tier pack.

For income, I lead, but have spiked down and Man is close behind and growing. Ulm, Pythium, and Caelum form a second tier, and are declining.

For gem income, I clearly lead, with C’tis more than one find behind. Ulm, Caelum, and Man are almost a dead heat, with Ulm stagnant and Caelum spiking down exactly the same as Man spikes up. They are about half me, and C’tis splits the difference.

For research, Arco leads, Caelum and Man are a neck-and-neck second at about two-thirds Arco’s value, and I’m next, chased by Pythium, I’m about two-thirds Caelum’s value.

For dominion, Ulm leads, but has leveled off, and Caelum is closing the gap. C’tis and I are virtually tied, me rising, him declining. Pythium is falling rather sharply. Man is oscillating but static. Arcoscephele has fallen completely off the graph.

For armies, C’tis is still so strong it’s scary (I’m at 2, C’tis is at 18!), almost as strong as everyone else put together. Man and Ulm are about equal (at 8 and 7), Pythium leads Caelum (about 4 to 3). I’ve passed Arcoscephale.

This changes things a little. The Man/Caelum war is going badly for Caelum. The time to strike C’tis is now or soon, before Caelum falls—I have to beat C’tis quickly enough to bolster the west before Caelum goes completely. Should I close the border with Arco and build more troops before striking? I get the feeling that if I go to war now, I will destroy a mighty empire. Stay tuned.

[shovah]

may i ask what caelums pretender is just out of interest (you probably said somewhere else)

[RedRover]

Shovah:
Actually, I have no idea what Caelum's pretender is. On this turn I am nowhere close to their capital. It hasn't shown up in any Arena fights. It's whatever the AI decided to field at Difficult level.

[I later had the opportunity to record the exact Pretender chassis, but didn't take it, sorry. At this point, I semi-recall it was something fairly weak, a Frost Father or Ghost King, but I just don't know for sure. The only thing I can easily determine at this point is that the AI stuck them with the Return of the Raptors theme. Not a choice I would have set voluntarily for this game.]


TURN 51
With war against C’tis brewing, I have a large number of items on the checklist: Manticore fully buffed, including Ring of Poison Resistance. Rings of Fire Resistance for the Druids. One or more Fire Wands on each front. At least 3-4 Priests per army group. Enough troops in the pipeline to make good on losses. Enough troops in the base forts to stop any C’tis who get through the front line. More Priests to bolster PD. Enough Warlocks to keep up research while the war continues. My most sensitive spot is the northeast corner. With three of five Astral gems a turn coming from there, I would be in deep trouble if I lost that province.

From the west continent, I pull the large Devil unit (16-17) back to my big port on the east continent. I will need them to solidify the border with Arco, and possibly raid east into C’tis territory. They are at once my greatest striking force and mobile reserve, and I need them where the action is.

On the west coast of the east continent, I blow the tactics and it costs. My small Devil unit rushes in and hits the advancing body (of Knights!) head-on instead of the Horse Archers or command group. The God’s Justice pikemen piles into their rear, taking heat damage, which a misplaced Hellfire spell does not help. I won, but the army is in shambles; most of the Devils are gone, and God’s Justice is a lot weaker than 37 survivors would suggest. Instead of husbanding my resources, I have squandered them.

Worse, Arco has pushed 30 Cardaces and Heart Companions into his bridgehead, so I must attack the independent 40 Heavy Infantry/Crossbows next to him immediately to seal him out of this area. Pikes far forward with attack orders (to minimize missile casualties). Devils ordered to charge enemy archers to disrupt their fire. With any luck, I will crack the defenders and hit the commanders before the Devils are all killed. Go, go, go!

In the northeast and by the east bridge, it is the quiet before the storm.

[Cainehill]

RedRover said:
Shovah:
Actually, I have no idea what Caelum's pretender is. On this turn I am nowhere close to their capital. It hasn't shown up in any Arena fights. It's whatever the AI decided to field at Difficult level.

[I later had the opportunity to record the exact Pretender chassis, but didn't take it, sorry. At this point, I semi-recall it was something fairly weak, a Frost Father or Ghost King, but I just don't know for sure. The only thing I can easily determine at this point is that the AI stuck them with the Return of the Raptors theme. Not a choice I would have set voluntarily for this game.]

But you said just a few posts back :

It’s just as well I didn’t try the Arena. Caelum’s pretender has almost 500 hit points and regenerates 17 per round, in addition to being lightning- and poison-proof. My 230-point Manticore would have been chutney.

That doesn't sound much like a Frost Father or Ghost King. Take it some other nation had the 500 HP beast in the arena.

[shovah]

thats why i asked, guess he 4got

[RedRover]

shovah/cainehill:
Oops, busted! Yeah, I'm playing well ahead of the posting, so the details sometimes get a little fuzzy. Right now, I am embattled and my play is in a burnout stage. Also, like a dummy, I didn't even go back to check my own previous posts before answering. Hazards of using Quick Reply. Sorry for being a little scattered, but as future posts will bring out, things are going to get a little hot here in RedRover Central.

It was Caelum in the arena, and the critter was a Great Wyrm. The Frost Father/Ghost King reference must be from another game that I'm currently playing as part of a different project. (I have a number of Dom2-related projects I am pursuing simultaneously--I'll try not to cross the wires again.)

Apologies for the confusion.

Things are better now.

Really.

Thanks.

[RedRover]

TURN 52
Drat! C’tis has the same idea I do. His Pretender, leading 310 Longdead, Ghouls, and Soulless, appear just beyond the east bridge. I will hold, taking one more turn to prep. I hope it’s not one too many. I divert research to pick up cheap upgrades: Alteration 1 next turn, then Thaumaturgy 3.

On the west continent, a force of 90 mixed infantry from Man moves adjacent to me. He has an independent province to hit, or me. Me he’s not at war with, and beyond the independent province is Caelum, whom he is at war with. I’m hoping he hits the independent, because there’s not much I can do to stop him if he decides to attack me.

On the west coast, I divert the big Devil unit directly to the east bridge. They can get there next turn. I have to stop the coastal campaign one province short of sealing the area. All the Devils in the small unit are dead and God’s Just are down to 21 men, so I send the Demonbred here back to the capital for infernal reinforcements. I have no idea if these will be back or if they will be sucked into the east bridge area.

Blood hunting has netted barely enough for one more Devil (I have three Apprentices, two with Sanguine Rods, active in three different provinces with populations over 6,000—I’m beginning to think a province only yields Blood Slaves once per season!).

In the northeast, I have stripped the fort garrison, and all mercs are forced marching toward the front. C'tis is too weak to penetrate me here in the northeast, and I will pillage my way down to the east bridge if he attacks there.

At the east bridge, I recruit another Anathemant Dragon. I slow down research to maximize item production. If this lot goes, I want at least one Flame Helmet in store so I can create a Flames From Afar caster quickly. Given the number of undead, I make up some Just Man Crossbows for leaders, and make sure all casters have a gem supply. If he hits me I may not win, but they’ll talk about the fight for a while.


TURN 52-53
Surprise! No attack. On the west continent, Caelum boots Man out of the province next to my fort. Man pulls out of his other province next to me instead of attacking me or the independent. Go figure. This turn I will have 810 gp to work with. Blood hunting yields 20 slaves this turn…finally.

On the west coast of the east continent, Arco has pulled out, too. I will grab the available Devils in my capital and finish sealing this area.

Even though I am greatly outnumbered, I’m gambling that a lot of the C’tis strength is undead, and that my Priests will be able to destroy much more than I lose. The plan is to attack in strength from the north, capturing provinces, but more important, razing Temples along the east edge of the map.

The force from the east bridge fort will attack across the river and see how much of his land north of his capital they can pillage. The big Devil unit is in the fort, to hold it, reinforce a main battle, or to harry an isolated province. My coming attack probably isn’t wise, but it will be fun.

Note: I manually archive Turn 53, the turn I attack, before turn resolution, so I can go back and see what a longer game would have brought, if this goes badly.

"And so, it begins..."

[RedRover]

TURN 54
Double drat! Caelum just hired away God’s Justice! This totally stalls the coast campaign for the foreseeable future. I can make inferior infantry at the rate of 1-2 per province per turn, so it will be 6-8 turns before I can build the number of troops I need over here. Arco may well clean up the key independents long before I can cobble together an effective force. Unless another good merc comes up…not this turn. I do take 24 Blood Slaves. Why is this working so well now after such a long dry spell?

The west continent is stagnant for me this turn. All money must go into the war with C’tis.

In the northeast, the war goes much worse than planned. I do take two provinces the first turn (the good). In one battle, my tactical setup costs me needless casualties (the bad), but worse, in the other battle my Pretender is Feebleminded (the truly ugly)! The only way I have out of this is to research and summon the Faerie Court (Conjuration 8), and I’m only at Conjuration 2 now. That is very far away and nearly half my researchers are in the field at the east bridge. Arrrrgh!

At the east bridge, I break out of my Citadel, slaying all in my path with minimal loss, including his Prophet (Urrah!!). My planned attacks for next turn cover the entire C’tis holdings north of a chokepoint two turns north of his capital. I'm on the march!

Who let the dogs out? Me.

[shovah]

feeble minded+pretender=really annoying game. its probably one of the worst things that can happen to your pretender