The pain of slavery

[Saxon]

You know the old saying “Love hurts”? Well, I love DOM II, but sometimes it hurts!

I was playing single player Arco, with victory point locations. It was mid/late game and I was getting beat up, but figured I could pull it off. Then I realized there was an easy way out. I had my “firing squad” of 16 astral mages, mostly Astrologers, but including my rainbow pretender, all set up with good items. The map was too big and they could not stop all the attacks, particularly the giants. So, I figured I would just teleport into the remaining victory point provinces, take them and win.

I teleport into the first and smash the defenders. One mage casts “enslave mind” and captures a tiny little wolf rider.

In the same turn, C’tis invades the same province with a big army. I replay the battle and am a bit concerned, the numbers are huge. Still, I figure I can take them. The spells start and the soul slays are eating up the troops, they have no magic resistance. My lone wolf rider charges out to fight. He meets the enemy and is killed. I shrug, no big deal, he was a bonus anyway.

Then my mages retreat. And die. The heart of my army, my major investment, my pretender, my only hope. Dead.

Since I had teleported in, the surrounding provinces were held by the enemy, nowhere to retreat. Since all of my troops were killed, my commanders retreated. Enslave mind is a cool spell, but do not script it when using a commanders only army, you can find yourself retreating sooner than you like…