Turn 5

Things did not go as smoothly as expected... A string of bad luck, in fact:

Patrolling on the home front failed to produce any results = unrest 22 in home province.

Bloodhenge druids just barely repulsed my attack: I lost about 24% of my force and they lost over 60% of theirs. I should be able to take them this turn.

Minimal casualties (6) in taking 349. That army will take 362 and then likely retire to border patrol.

My newest expansion army will take 333 while my pretender takes 322.

I will have enough funds to build a forest fort, a lab, and a Marsh Master next turn, but no new armies... I DON'T NEED more gold, but if a few people can scrounge up an extra 20 gold, it will be enough for me to use all of my resources.

Thank you very much to everyone who sent me money (Caelum, Abysia, Bandar Log). I received even more money than anticipated, meaning everything went extremely smoothly this turn. I'll likely have extra cash the next few turns until my fortress finishes, so if anyone needs financial assistance, speak up. (Sent excess money to Raiel this turn).

Action Report:
GK succeeded with no new afflictions (finally), handing me my first water province.

Expansion army trivially destroyed 12 horse archers with their 3 commanders. Found yet another Arena (that's 3!).

Conjuration 1 successfully researched.

Expansion army is now codename: Pipsqueak (due to the presence of non-dai-bakemono in the army).

Marching Orders:
GK to 344, Lake Doom. Despite the ominous name, its defended by a pitiful ~10 atlantian militia, should be a cakewalk.

Commander Takaaki begins building a fortress in 271. Venerable ancestor Ai has seen fit to bestow upon him the rank of Rikugun Shosa.

Prophet Dolgad heading directly east with army codename Pipsqueak into 273.

F3W2E2D2 mage moving to fortress location (to search, build lab, build temple while the fortress is building).

New army created under the command of independent commander Omarbe, codename Endzone. Endzone is moving SW into 288, which will almost complete my capitol border province collection. Omarbe is commissioned with the rank of Rikugun Taii.

Independent light cavalry commander Ualgo moves to capitol to receive his officer's commission.

Research on track for completing Conj 2 this turn.

Purchases:
Fortress
12 dai-bakemono archers
Bakemono Sorceror ('mage')
Independent light cavalry commander

Thanks to the unexpected generosity of a third party (ie, beyond the two donors I was expecting), I actually have 150 cash leftover (unsurprisingly, exactly the amount donated by the third person). I'll be sending 100 along to Raiel, which should let him use all his resources. =)

Mercs:
I put a bid of 50 on Dagan, the renegade sage. Don't mind being overbid, but the extra research certainly wouldn't hurt.

Thanks to Abysia for the cash. It was very helpful

I will be attacking 15 (Elderhill) and 45 (Midge Fens) this turn.

Only one of my provinces produces immeadiately useable commanders so far

Still no contact with any enemy flags. But the dominion I can see is cold two in places for Vet 6.

Hoplosternum wrote:Only one of my provinces produces immeadiately useable commanders so far

Still no contact with any enemy flags. But the dominion I can see is cold two in places for Vet 6.

I'm still hoping for some indie scouts. I might just have to start casting Black Servant to do some scouting.

No contact whatever with enemy flags or dominion. I'm guessing that means V2 went primarily East. That or V2 is Marignon and just doesn't have enough total provinces to have pushed any dominion significantly towards me.

Very happy to see we've got our feet wet.

Bandar, Abysia, and Agartha, how are you fareing?

I've been strapped for cash of late, haven't had a home army to patrol, but hopefully I'll be able to send out gold to any who might need it soon. Been saving for my initial fort.

I keep forgetting to move my scout 1 province to TC's capital. We do need to know the identity of v2 ASAP, and or the other as yet unidentified vets. Will move my harpy in another direction if needed, though I expect we will know very soon. C'tis or Shin, or myself should be coming in contact with v2 pretty soon.

Hey. So I thought to myself it might be interesting to keep a tally as the game goes on of how much of a gem/gold disparity is racked up in this game. Unfortunately I did not think of this until now, but in any case I am going to try to track how much gold/gems each player/team gets in total over the course of the game.

On turn 5, you guys are clearly in the lead.

Team Noob gold income: 12,400
Team Noob gem income: 72

Team Vet gold income: 5,278
Team vet gem income: 32


Each turn after this I will post the total gold/gems over the course of the game in the appropriate thread, unless I miss a turn.

Raiel, I'll be moving into 311 either this turn or next. I will leave 303,306, and 317 (the path to the v2 capital in accordance with melnorjr's strategy) open for you to take.

Edit: You should probably also take 311 as well if you need more expansion space.

Attacking indies in 274, 272, and 276.

272, the site of my planned fort is a wasteland, but I suppose it is the number of neighbors and quality of the surrounding terrain that matters most.

rdonj wrote:Hey. So I thought to myself it might be interesting to keep a tally as the game goes on of how much of a gem/gold disparity is racked up in this game. Unfortunately I did not think of this until now, but in any case I am going to try to track how much gold/gems each player/team gets in total over the course of the game.

On turn 5, you guys are clearly in the lead.

Team Noob gold income: 12,400
Team Noob gem income: 72

Team Vet gold income: 5,278
Team vet gem income: 32


Each turn after this I will post the total gold/gems over the course of the game in the appropriate thread, unless I miss a turn.

Good idea. You could also post it on the shapnel thread to keep everyone up-to-date and the thread busy.

Hmm. Doesn't sound unreasonable.

That or V2 is Marignon and just doesn't have enough total provinces to have pushed any dominion significantly towards me.

My scout is on V5, which is Marignon, (not abyssia :p) His fortress is lightly defended but his pretender is camped inside it, moved my scout north to 161 to get a heads up on who is placed up there.

My turn was nominal, very few casualties and two provinces taken, building a fortress next turn so I may beg for some money. Also, we should organize and attack, I have many an elephant to provide some heavy cavalry for V4, whom I shall scout shortly.

Skinu wrote:

That or V2 is Marignon and just doesn't have enough total provinces to have pushed any dominion significantly towards me.

My scout is on V5, which is Marignon, (not abyssia :p) His fortress is lightly defended but his pretender is camped inside it, moved my scout north to 161 to get a heads up on who is placed up there.

Sigh. I'm going to end up next to Baalz, aren't I?

Squirrelloid wrote:

Skinu wrote:

That or V2 is Marignon and just doesn't have enough total provinces to have pushed any dominion significantly towards me.

My scout is on V5, which is Marignon, (not abyssia :p) His fortress is lightly defended but his pretender is camped inside it, moved my scout north to 161 to get a heads up on who is placed up there.

Sigh. I'm going to end up next to Baalz, aren't I?

My harpy is in reach of the V2 capital, I'm moving there this turn. You'll know very shortly.

I take the 138 this turn.

I Buy the Shipwreaker and i try to take 108

For Septimus: 250 Gold it's enough?

I lost my assassin this turn (i try to assasinate a lizard shaman but he had two guards)... I lost my single spy

Bandar Log is doing reasonable and I hope to start construction of my first fort on turn 6-7 and a third around turns 9-10 That will hopefully bring in much needed cash to start spamming temples in my regions to keep me alive.
Once those are completed I'll have to concentrate on researching, as I'm thinking the need for my summons will early in the game if I'm to contribute anything

OK, no major problems (2 provinces taken, minimal casualties). But I expect my expansion will slow now that I've filled in all my back-territory, as there's only one width of empty provinces between Ermor and myself (he's also at 358 and 354 just west of his capital), and I'm reluctant to attack blind until I can see what he's fielding (I've seen his provinces, but not his armies). I do have one indie province able to produce scouts, but I'm only putting in my first order for one just now (but it should be the first of a constant stream).

Cash supply is good, a second temple going up, second fortress will be completed in 3 more months, and finally getting some research in. I should be geared up for a minor offensive against Ermor in another couple of turns.

Still worried about my flank vs the as-yet unknown Vet 2, but it looks like Shinuyama should have me covered there shortly.

C'tis, what's your situation vis-a-vi Ermor?

Two provinces taken, no casualties.

Vet 6 is vanheim.

Status: attacking two more provinces bordering my cap.

I could still use a little gold if anyone has some spare.

and I need 2 more air gems for obscuro for next turn if anyone can spare.

I have the open field adjacent to Ermor's eastern two provinces. He has no visible armies on that side... perhaps he doesn't like the idea of fighting in Miasma? I didn't expect that to be a deterrent to his undead, but perhaps it is the old-age mages that would need to lead them he's considering.

I can have two armies next to him if I delay expansion, but I'd prefer to wait a turn or two to solidify my position first... I should be able to start pushing him within the next three turns.

viccio wrote:I take the 138 this turn.

I Buy the Shipwreaker and i try to take 108

For Septimus: 250 Gold it's enough?

I lost my assassin this turn (i try to assasinate a lizard shaman but he had two guards)... I lost my single spy

That'll be fine, though if you need it more, don't worry. I thought that the banker thread would have been helpful. Perhaps we should set up an "I need gold" thread so people can post how much gold they need and what turn they need it by. That way players could see at glance who's in need and where to send it. It would also allow us to concentrate on other things in these turn threads. Gem/slaves can be traded much like items, so I believe I will expand the use of the marketplace thread to include gem/slave trading as well as item trading.
Sound good?

[quote="Raiel"I can have two armies next to him if I delay expansion, but I'd prefer to wait a turn or two to solidify my position first... I should be able to start pushing him within the next three turns.[/quote]

Understood, and that's kind of my situation too. Best that we are both prepared to go at him at the same time, rather than suffering an early defeat.

Melnorjr, I've got you covered for Air gems this turn. Like Septimius suggested, if you still have Obscuro later (and if we get our hands on Dagan), we can move gem requests to that thread. I'll keep supplying you if necessary, but I'd like to see someone else step in there too. BTW, any luck with searching so far?

Raiel wrote:I have the open field adjacent to Ermor's eastern two provinces. He has no visible armies on that side... perhaps he doesn't like the idea of fighting in Miasma? I didn't expect that to be a deterrent to his undead, but perhaps it is the old-age mages that would need to lead them he's considering.

I can have two armies next to him if I delay expansion, but I'd prefer to wait a turn or two to solidify my position first... I should be able to start pushing him within the next three turns.

Great news.

I like you being next to ermor anyway. He's not going to be terribly happy about that

and miasma won't affect undead but it will affect his commanders - unless they are undead too, which would be bad, because c'tis, one of the premier death magic nations, and a nation with good priests, can counter undead rather well.

I almost wanted to be near ermor. it wouldnt have been fun for him fighting my cheaper and higher-astral mages in magic duel spams.

TwoBits wrote:[quote="Raiel"I can have two armies next to him if I delay expansion, but I'd prefer to wait a turn or two to solidify my position first... I should be able to start pushing him within the next three turns.

Understood, and that's kind of my situation too. Best that we are both prepared to go at him at the same time, rather than suffering an early defeat.

Melnorjr, I've got you covered for Air gems this turn. Like Septimius suggested, if you still have Obscuro later (and if we get our hands on Dagan), we can move gem requests to that thread. I'll keep supplying you if necessary, but I'd like to see someone else step in there too. BTW, any luck with searching so far?[/quote]

No results yet.

melnorjr wrote:I almost wanted to be near ermor. it wouldnt have been fun for him fighting my cheaper and higher-astral mages in magic duel spams.

I've got that covered

Septimius Severus wrote:Raiel, I'll be moving into 311 either this turn or next. I will leave 303,306, and 317 (the path to the v2 capital in accordance with melnorjr's strategy) open for you to take.

Edit: You should probably also take 311 as well if you need more expansion space.

Attacking indies in 274, 272, and 276.

272, the site of my planned fort is a wasteland, but I suppose it is the number of neighbors and quality of the surrounding terrain that matters most.

Honestly, I'd prefer to let you hold 303 and 281 against V2 (depending on who it is) and I'll attack him from the pass to his north after/while I squeeze Ermor. I'm not set on this approach, but it leaves us both with a solid front. Let me know what you think.

As for 311... I'd say you should take that and build a cheap fort on it for mage recruitment. Believe it or not, unless they're surrounded by forests and mountains, swamp territories are the least desirable land for C'tis because of the 1200 gold/6-month forts we build there. They do make good choke points for C'tis, though.

Raiel wrote:They do make good choke points for C'tis, though.

I'd hate to be anyone who had to fight C'tis in a swamp! If it's a strategic location, you should hang on to it - no reason to build a fort there though. Then again, if it's too far behind the lines (or so we hope)...

TwoBits wrote:

Raiel wrote:They do make good choke points for C'tis, though.

I'd hate to be anyone who had to fight C'tis in a swamp! If it's a strategic location, you should hang on to it - no reason to build a fort there though. Then again, if it's too far behind the lines (or so we hope)...

It's not a strategic location unless the vets push us back quite far.

And I disagree with you about the fort... unless your nation's mages are completely useless in combat and worthless at researching, building a fort is about the opportunity to recruit national mages and leaders (like pans in this case). So, quick and cheap seems better to me than expensive and slow.