Turn 17

Turn 17 commences. situation in arco is bad, but manageable. attempting to magic duel-assassinate the mages in marignon's army.

Vanheim continues to waste time attacking a province with 5 pd with single commanders. I expect him to attack for real next turn.

In other news, I'm glad I'm not a vet, because vet's seem to be 'good' by being abusive of tiny mechanics such as killing commanders the turn before they finish a fort, and capturing a province that has a fort in it with one scout, just to ruin recruitment for a turn.

If I go down, I can go down knowing I lost to subterfuge and mechanic-abuse, rather than an honest fight.

on another note, any seeking arrows/fires from afar/etc on province 60, or 55, would be quite useful.

Bandar Report

Bandar's forces finally take a couple of provinces.

Well three but then Ulm went and took one off me. Doh!

He had said he was going to attack it, but a long time after I had said I was going to attack it So there is communication but it's not very effective at the moment

Oh well not much harm done as my force was small and not very valuable.

However as it is next to the Bandar Capital and Bandar has extreme Dominion problems could I take this one back?

Jotunheim Report

Thanks to the gold from Abysia Jotun can still build this turn I took back a province with my Pretender but lost another which was going to be my blood hunting base. Marignon seems to have withdrawn.

Sadly Caelum's attack on my apital went wrong. His Elephants and mage guards did not appear so his attack failed badly. Not sure if there was a spoiling attack.

My capital only has about 90 defence left. Lost 60+ or so this turn. So probably only 2 turns left then an assault. I summoned animals in my capital to provide some extra defenders. I don't think they will count to rebuild my castle but they should provide some much needed high attack values when the assault comes.

I will let you know my planned moves when I have a clear idea of Caelum & Ulm's plans for next turn. Bandar also needs to know what Shin's likely moves are as we now share a border.

wont be able to look until later, but some of that border are likely territories i captured with the intention of turning over to bandar. So my 'intentions' are "here, take these". They might have 1PD in them.

Disaster!!!! Ermor's capitol survives! My lizards literally killed everything Ermor had except for his mages on the back line. They got right up to them and then broke on one remaining skelly spam... that actually happened twice in one battle! To make matters worse, his attack on my only adjacent province was successfull (he literally had only 4 units left in that battle).

The very little good news is that he's starting back from scratch at this point. I have armies to take his two remaining provinces. He has only one shadow vestal left, that I know of.

TwoBits: Do you have the mage/priest support in 345 to press a siege and storm his castle with 6 skelly-spammers? He'll probably break my siege this turn, but you could move in and carry on where I left off. It will take me at least 5 turns to rebuild the priest power I had there.

Good turn for me...

I take Silver Swamp (17) to Vanheim and the next turn i attack Isurian (30) (the next turn i start to build a fortres in Silver Swamp).

I take a province to Eriu : Feldan Forest (136).

I don't fight with TC, because He surprised me by attacking another territory.

I find 2 interesting magic site for me:
Mount Chaining (Blood Magic Bonus 40)
Ten Thousand Things (1N 1F 1A 1W 1E)

viccio wrote:\I find 2 interesting magic site for me:
Mount Chaining (Blood Magic Bonus 40)

OMG, that could be another game-breaking find (and in the hands of our strongest blood power!) if the game stretches on (as it's looking to do). Viccio, defend that place for all it's worth! Probably should build a fortress there.

OK, time for me to look at my turn, and see how things went for Pythium.

Hmm, won't be able to reach my computer until this evening. Melnorjr, what did Marignon do with its big army? My plague of spiders should be marshaled and ready to attack wherever now with evocation 3 and four mages with gem-carriers.

OK, another fair turn for Pythium. Took 340 and 329 from Ashdod with no casualties (granted, against light opposition). Next turn, I will have Evo-5, for things like Thunder Strike and Stellar Cascades. Plus, got a free lab right where I was going to build one this turn, plus another 400 gold from other luck events.

All the same, events now necessitate that I change my plans, and hold on to every gold I have (sorry, no gifts of cash from Pythium like I'd hoped).

The unfortunate defeat of C'tis at the gates of Ermor (crap, I thought that victory was a certainty, but I was amazed how much skele-spam those Grand Thaumaturgs could spew out, even with 6+ H3 priests Banishing away) will require me to refocus northward for a while. I will put a blocking force (Task Force Hydra) into 329, while the big army at 329 currently will turn around and head north. Lot's of wall-breaking fodder is being recruited in the vicinity, plus more reinforcements sent from the capital (and I'll probably re-hire the Farstrikers). I'll probably be teleporting in some Arch Theurgs too.

I've got a medium size force in 345, but it would not be able to hold off the legions of skeletons if Ermor tried to break the siege, so it will wait to join forces with units from 329. Raiel, what's the unrest level at the capital? If they break out, can they recruit anything? Or do we need someone to bomb them with an unrest causing ritual? And can you grab the last two open Ermorian territories (355 and 359) if I hit the capital?

I'm also a bit worried about the Shinuyama-Ashdod frontier. Shinuyama got roughed up a little in 305, where Ashdod now has major forces (although I think you're close to something, Squirrelloid - I thought that Rust Mist would've worked better if it had hit the group that your Dai-bakemono attacked, not the group attacked by the little guys - plus, you definitely could have used some Magic Duel help beforehand - I sent Arco 15 Astral gems last turn, and can send more, so perhaps you can PM melnorjr about something for next turn). I'm concerned about another threat from the south, so I'm also going to be buying more Hydras. If no threat materializes, I'm sure they'll come in handy eventually.

LumenPlacidum wrote:Hmm, won't be able to reach my computer until this evening. Melnorjr, what did Marignon do with its big army? My plague of spiders should be marshaled and ready to attack wherever now with evocation 3 and four mages with gem-carriers.

Hes got 170 in forest of gun(prov 60) and 140 on the other side of the mountains in province 55

Province 305
So, I didn't think that combat with Ashdod went too badly. In particular, I killed his only non-astral commander in the battle (who was also his prophet). This means that (1) a mage duel assault could easily cripple the entire leadership of that army and (2) he can't divine bless anymore, which means he can't use 5+ rounds of spellcasting for body ethereal again. (Seriously, ugg).

Part of the problem is the mage on the dai-bakemono side got stuck in the dai-bakemono and so couldn't advance as well, and part of the problem was that it was the side where everyone and their mom had body ethereal cast on them. I've fixed the first of these problems, and some mage dueling would go a long way to fixing the second part.

But ultimately, 2 commanders + 6 Sheshai Anakim dead at the cost of a bunch of cheap chaffe and a bakemono sorceror who was slowly dying of disease anyway. (And my starting national commander, who honestly wasn't worth that much)

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I'm actually more worried about my southern front right now (Province 244). Ashdod has a non-astral Zazzumite thugged out and I really don't have an answer for it. He's got boots of the messenger, 2x bracers of protection, dragon helmet, and a fire brand. Serious ow, and with blessing he's completely fatigue free. He's scripted to bless himself and cast stoneskin, and he has a buddy Raphaite Sage to load him up with body ethereal, luck, etc... 30 protection lucky ethereal fatiugue-free badass - its just too much for normal troops to handle.

My current theory is to move a sorceror with the eye of aiming and some dai-bakemono (some archers, some not) into the area, and try to blast him with magma bolts. Of course, his raphaite companion desperately needs to get mage dueled away so i don't have to deal with the astral buffs.

Unfortunately i can't move quite far enough this coming turn to get in his way, but probably next turn

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So, mage duel requests:
Province 244 - at least 2 duelers to kill an S2 rephaite sage who absolutely must die now.
Province 305 - targets are 2 S2 commanders - an adon and a rephaite sage. Lower priority than 244.

Please acknowledge and commit to them in this thread.
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Other news:
No more provinces lost to indie attacks (oh thank god)
GK takes province N of Ermor.
kicked out the pod people from near my capitol.
Have a random priest and militia... more fodder to use on ashdod...
Tiamat's struck gold - 1w 1s 1e 30gold!

Orders:
Holding in 302 against presumed ashdod attack
Building a temple and fortress in 280. I know its a little risky, but I'm willing to defend that if need be and the fortress could really help push this offensive (especially since my capitol's troop recruitment is perpetually tied up killing off indie attacks right now). I also think Ashdod is starting to run out of steam with attacks coming from every direction (though I am sad to hear pythium won't be pressing from the north).
GK sneaking into Ermor's capitol. Lets see how he likes that for dom kill.
Researching ~1/2 of Evoc 6
Buying dai-bakemono and bakemono sorcerors (can't buy cheap chaffe *and* the fortress after all)

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For Bandar
The province due north of where i see you is mine that i lost to barbarian attacks and i need it for supply reasons. Retaking it this turn.

The province NE of you is bordering one of my cities and theoretically mine, i've just been distracted because it wasn't on the way to anywhere.

The province I'm actually in is yours, and i'm vacating that random priest + militia as we speak. Expect 1PD.

The province W of you is yours and not strongly held by indies - i'd go there next (puts you in a position to claim the territory i've been holding for you).

Basically, follow the territory division map that was made, and let me get those random militia out of the way.

So, mage duel requests:
Province 244 - at least 2 duelers to kill an S2 rephaite sage who absolutely must die now.
Province 305 - targets are 2 S2 commanders - an adon and a rephaite sage. Lower priority than 244.

This is pushing it. I'm magic dueling Marignon with 5 mages already, so don't have a lot to spare, but I can manage the guy in 244.

melnorjr wrote:

So, mage duel requests:
Province 244 - at least 2 duelers to kill an S2 rephaite sage who absolutely must die now.
Province 305 - targets are 2 S2 commanders - an adon and a rephaite sage. Lower priority than 244.

This is pushing it. I'm magic dueling Marignon with 5 mages already, so don't have a lot to spare, but I can manage the guy in 244.

The S2 mage isn't the thug/SC, so he might not expect that kind of priority put on him.

And I expect after he handed me my ass this last turn he'll be looking to raid away from the big army battle.

Does that Zazzumite have a ridiculous defense and does it have something that deals damage when you attack him? If not, you could probably just tie him up with a couple of your high-attack recruitables equipped with vine whips. Make them berserk somehow and they'll keep him tied up until he's auto-destroyed at the turn limit.

Squirrelloid wrote:So, mage duel requests:
Province 244 - at least 2 duelers to kill an S2 rephaite sage who absolutely must die now.
Province 305 - targets are 2 S2 commanders - an adon and a rephaite sage. Lower priority than 244.

OK, I've got one S4 Arch Theurg to spare. Theoretically, I could load him with enough Astral gems to cast multiple Mind Duels (providing he wins the first one, of course). I'm not sure what level mage melnorjr has available. Maybe you could find out, Squirrelloid, and let me know who you want to attack where.

I'll send more A gems to Arco too, sounds like he's going to be burning through them vs Marignon.

TwoBits wrote:

Squirrelloid wrote:So, mage duel requests:
Province 244 - at least 2 duelers to kill an S2 rephaite sage who absolutely must die now.
Province 305 - targets are 2 S2 commanders - an adon and a rephaite sage. Lower priority than 244.

OK, I've got one S4 Arch Theurg to spare. Theoretically, I could load him with enough Astral gems to cast multiple Mind Duels (providing he wins the first one, of course). I'm not sure what level mage melnorjr has available. Maybe you could find out, Squirrelloid, and let me know who you want to attack where.

I'll send more A gems to Arco too, sounds like he's going to be burning through them vs Marignon.

a 4 and a 3 incoming on the sage. Normally I'd only use 4s, but I'm out of them with 5 of them after marignon.

TwoBits wrote:

Squirrelloid wrote:So, mage duel requests:
Province 244 - at least 2 duelers to kill an S2 rephaite sage who absolutely must die now.
Province 305 - targets are 2 S2 commanders - an adon and a rephaite sage. Lower priority than 244.

OK, I've got one S4 Arch Theurg to spare. Theoretically, I could load him with enough Astral gems to cast multiple Mind Duels (providing he wins the first one, of course). I'm not sure what level mage melnorjr has available. Maybe you could find out, Squirrelloid, and let me know who you want to attack where.

I'll send more A gems to Arco too, sounds like he's going to be burning through them vs Marignon.

why don't you go after 305 since with 2 attacks that require the first to succeed you'd want two targets. Also, it sounds like Marignon has 244 covered.

Squirrelloid wrote:

TwoBits wrote:

Squirrelloid wrote:So, mage duel requests:
Province 244 - at least 2 duelers to kill an S2 rephaite sage who absolutely must die now.
Province 305 - targets are 2 S2 commanders - an adon and a rephaite sage. Lower priority than 244.

OK, I've got one S4 Arch Theurg to spare. Theoretically, I could load him with enough Astral gems to cast multiple Mind Duels (providing he wins the first one, of course). I'm not sure what level mage melnorjr has available. Maybe you could find out, Squirrelloid, and let me know who you want to attack where.

I'll send more A gems to Arco too, sounds like he's going to be burning through them vs Marignon.

why don't you go after 305 since with 2 attacks that require the first to succeed you'd want two targets. Also, it sounds like Marignon has 244 covered.

Redirecting to 305. Twobits, you got the one in 244?

melnorjr wrote:

Squirrelloid wrote:

TwoBits wrote:

Squirrelloid wrote:So, mage duel requests:
Province 244 - at least 2 duelers to kill an S2 rephaite sage who absolutely must die now.
Province 305 - targets are 2 S2 commanders - an adon and a rephaite sage. Lower priority than 244.

OK, I've got one S4 Arch Theurg to spare. Theoretically, I could load him with enough Astral gems to cast multiple Mind Duels (providing he wins the first one, of course). I'm not sure what level mage melnorjr has available. Maybe you could find out, Squirrelloid, and let me know who you want to attack where.

I'll send more A gems to Arco too, sounds like he's going to be burning through them vs Marignon.

why don't you go after 305 since with 2 attacks that require the first to succeed you'd want two targets. Also, it sounds like Marignon has 244 covered.

Redirecting to 305. Twobits, you got the one in 244?

err.. that doesn't work as well... He can only take 2 shots if there are two targets, because if he fails the first time he's dead. And I really need 244 dead, so i'd rather you took him out since you have 2 mages available.

Whereas 305 is lower priority, and gives him two targets.

(And by marignon i meant melnorjr - whee confused after reading melnorjr's claims that he was barraging marignon).

So stick with your first plan.

Squirrelloid wrote:

melnorjr wrote:

Squirrelloid wrote:

TwoBits wrote:

Squirrelloid wrote:So, mage duel requests:
Province 244 - at least 2 duelers to kill an S2 rephaite sage who absolutely must die now.
Province 305 - targets are 2 S2 commanders - an adon and a rephaite sage. Lower priority than 244.

OK, I've got one S4 Arch Theurg to spare. Theoretically, I could load him with enough Astral gems to cast multiple Mind Duels (providing he wins the first one, of course). I'm not sure what level mage melnorjr has available. Maybe you could find out, Squirrelloid, and let me know who you want to attack where.

I'll send more A gems to Arco too, sounds like he's going to be burning through them vs Marignon.

why don't you go after 305 since with 2 attacks that require the first to succeed you'd want two targets. Also, it sounds like Marignon has 244 covered.

Redirecting to 305. Twobits, you got the one in 244?

err.. that doesn't work as well... He can only take 2 shots if there are two targets, because if he fails the first time he's dead. And I really need 244 dead, so i'd rather you took him out since you have 2 mages available.

Whereas 305 is lower priority, and gives him two targets.

(And by marignon i meant melnorjr - whee confused after reading melnorjr's claims that he was barraging marignon).

So stick with your first plan.

okay. Your inserting marignon there had me confused. Hitting province 244 with two mages.

Jotunheim is attacking the Marignon province above the Jotun Fort (Pania - 102). If Caelum decides to go here please let me know and I will cancel my attack.

Edit I am also making some attacks on Vanheim to the south of my fort. But I don't think it's likely Caelum will attack in those areas.

And go Abysia Swamp forts are usually good as they tend to be cheap and fast. I was going to build a fort there had things been different. However there won't be a lot of resources if you are hoping to build troops as opposed to mages there.

Anyway all help around my Capital appreciated

Attention Ulm Please don't go any further north I am attacking Bright Woods (212) again this turn. Plus Troll Woods and the small barb force by Shin. Not the big barb force that was a bad event for Shin.

Let me know if these are a problem for anyone.

Sorry about that, Bandar. I thought I checked for the number of every province I was moving to.

Eriu snuck a fortress up in 221/Omicria. I have the walls breached and will try to duck inside immediately. Hopefully the forces I have there can kill the Sidhe lord or whoever just built it.

Noob Gold Total - 279,309
Noob Gem Total - 1,405

Vet Gold Total - 120,628
Vet Gem Total - 802

We still seem to be having communication issues (Bandar and Ulm last turn), and worries about future issues (Jotunheim and Caelum, etc.). I really think neighbors in danger of an inadvertent clash really need to be using PMs to confirm their movements. It only takes a couple of minutes, and then you can get a definitive answer, and not worry that your post on the forum got missed.


OK, I'll be hitting 305 with my S4 Arch Theurg, with 2x Mind Burn scripting. I really want some pay pack for the lost of those two Arch Theurgs a few turns back!

Uh, I really hope you don't actually mean Mind Burn, but rather Magic Duel.