This iS A-R-D-A-N-I-A! - A Warlock: Master of the Arcane AAR

[2Coats]

Goood....Goood. Are you planning on Expanding across the sea to that Island with the Lava Field?

Probably... if there is a valuable resource there more so!

You still have +5 Food. Are you building Farms and forgetting to show us that?
Very interesting. Looking forward to see what the Flying Boats can do?

If you look back at the start of the scenario I had 5 to begin with. I honestly show everything of relevance... even if it is just one short sentence to mention it.
The flying galleus are one of my fav units. Not really powerful at a basic level. Think of them as Warlock's SWAT... or rapid reaction force if you prefer.
If you played Elven Legacy, you'll know what I mean.

I hope they make the coasts a bit smoother with a patch, looks very weird the way they are now.

I dont have an opinion either way, but I would prefer they make the AI as kick ass a possible.

Skeletons don't eat food, they cost mana.

The diet works well as they never get fat.

Exactly... undead wont need much food production unless I get a resource to build neutral human/monster units like minotaurs or halberdiers. Otherwise when I get a city from one of those races, Ill make sure they produce enough food for those unit it produces.

[2Coats]

Lizard Bait...

Turn 12 and a building has been completed (the mana farm in Lichton). A unit has gained a level of experience and needs to be awarded a perk. A new quest is sent to our liege for completion and our units need orders.

Without further delay I withdraw my badly injured archer unit from the north. Then proceed to use a combination of my remain archer unit and the seaborne archer unit to whittle down the health of the cockroaches to about 1/3 of maximum. The single group of warriors deliver the killing blow and take the rewards of seizing the garbage pile – 40 gold and the lesser shadow bolt spell. It causes 8 points of death magic, but as I am currently researching the full version, I doubt I will have much cause to use it. Nonetheless...

What the hell... I try an experiment on the flying serpents to the north causing 6 points of damage.

I return to review my forces east of Lichton. Moving one of the units further south-east, they uncover a mystic portal guarded by an earth elemental and a group of undead guarding what looks to be a graveyard. [Ed: Is there anything humanoid and living in this game?] Carefully I move them back to the city and pray I haven't disturbed anything or anyone from their slumber. I doubt my fragile force of undead could stomach an angry elemental charging through their ranks! I also notice that the discovery of a portal has it's own alert.... that's new!

I look to upgrade the archer unit (that was retreated after encounter with the flying serpents in the north). I choose the perk of Elemental Resistance (+15 Death & Elemental resistance). The other two choice would have been: Dodge (+25 Melee Resistance) and Perceptive (+1 XP/turn).

My first quest turns out to be a simple one... to build a farm. It can be built in any city. Doing so within 20 turns will provide a reward of 40 gold. My final action is to send my settler unit north-west to that area immediately north of Lichton, in the space between three special nodes.

The AI takes its turn, but no action is visible to me.

Its Turn 13 and the only already I have is contact.... so there are living intelligent creatures on Ardania! [Ed: Did you say intelligent? You do know they are controlled by the A.I.? Just how intelligent can they be? 2C: Well they managed to come and find us before we found them!%@!]

It is a representative of Sol de Torvega (Yellow). I can either choose to declare war, negotiate or do nothing by clicking the OK button. I choose the latter. I'm not ready to go to war – just yet! And we have nothing to discuss.

Back to the north I move the skeleton warriors from their location at the garbage pile west, towards the lair of flying serpents. I also move up my intact archer unit who manage to get into firing range. They score a critical hit and reduce the serpents by an additional (-4) points.

I move my ship mounted archers further into the body of water, to discover that it is in fact a lake, with no other easy pickings. I'll send them east next time. Once they get on shore they can scout out that area beyond our capitol.

At Lichton I move my two warrior units within the city borders, where they will wait for my other units west of the lake to finish dealing with the serpents and join them in a bit. My settlers continue at their snails pace towards their target.

The A.I doesn't take any actions in the area visible to my forces, so after another uneventful phase it is Turn 14.

Only three alerts this time. The Air Dockyard is complete, which means that the Flying Carvellus' can be recruit. Other than that I will need to issue orders to my units.

I now see where Sol de Torvega's representatives are located. Right next to my capitol. They are a goblin spearmen unit. The equivalent of my skeleton warriors. They posses the Thick Hide Perk (+25 Melee resistance) and have 100 Life Magic resistance. They have sigh of 2 hexes – the same as my warriors. An upkeep of -1 food and -1 gold, replace the food with mana and they may as well be the same.

My floating archers move east and reach the coastline. Next turn they will be able to move on land and continue eastwards, to see what awaits us there. In the north-west my warriors reach the flying serpents and await my archers to reduce their numbers. Their attack is swift causing (-3) points of casualties. However, when I try to use my warriors to attack, I receive a bit of... well all I can describe it as is a bit of an unwelcome surprise! [Ed: I don't believe you!]

My warriors are unable to attack the flying serpents as melee units cannot target airborne foes. Only ranged units (missile or machinations or casters) can attack these units.

At this juncture I'm not happy leaving my capitol unguarded, so I send one of my warrior units at Lichton back to my capitol. The other units around Lichton (2) are rested, except the settlers who move to within one turn of their destination.

Over to the A.I. Sol de Torvega's spearmen return to the east. The flying serpents avoid the skeleton warriors adjacent to them and move to the west. They target the only nearby threat posed by my archers, hitting them for a massive amount of hit-points.

It is Turn 15 and the flying serpents must pay. The archers they just attacked retaliate causing a few points of damage. The other unit of archers that were retreated a while back have gained enough health through resting to be used. I send these forwards into the fray. Their attack is clinical scoring (-5) points and killing the serpents dead.

With the danger gone the skeleton warriors are ordered to demolish the snake's nest in the adjacent hex. This provides 70 gold as reward, bringing up our pool of good to 175. Just 5 shy of being able to commender our Flying Caravellus. Skeleton Warriors cost 20 gold and Archers 25 gold by comparison.

I put my warriors in Lichton on sentry duty. They should wake if any non-faction units get within 2 hexes of it. I now check the alerts to find a building slot is open for construction and a new unit has been built. The ocean going Caravellus ship, located by the harbor, east of the capitol.

I move this new unit south through the seas and discover some unclaimed lands and a new shipwreck, which is just out of reach. In the city of Lichton I now build a mana farm, ignoring my quest objective to build a farm. I have plenty of time to achieve this, but in order to grow my army in numbers I will need more mana. The undead faction or one using a lot of magic will need lots of mana. Finally I move the archers in the lake onto the shoreline ready to move inland next turn.

With that it is the my phase, and the A.I.s turn to go.


More to follow...

[2Coats]

Here we go again...

Another quiet A.I. phase sees Turn 16 arrive. The warrior unit in my capitol gain a level of experience. I choose the Bladewall perk to increase their melee resistance. My caravelus reaches the wreck, but is only able to gain 30 gold. This extra amount of gold was fortunate, as the kingdom was losing -0.5 gold per turn.

It now means we have enough gold to build a Flying Galleus. It will be ready in three turns and provide some much needed artillery to our attacks. Back in our capitol I order one to be built. I return to my settler unit which has now reached the hex I want my third city to be built upon. I click on the Build City button and Bob's your uncle. [Ed: Unless you haven't got an uncle named Bob!] It is called Corovallum.

To the east I move the archers further east. Sentry warriors in the capitol. Turn 16 ends there. Another quiet A.I turn.

Turn 17 starts and ends very quickly. Only units to process this turn. So all injured units are set to rest. In fact only the archers in the far east and my ship in the seas to the south, move this turn. Its shows

The AI has another quiet phase. Sol de Torvega's spearmen move to the edge of visual range in the east, but embarks a group of goblin spearmen within my capitol's borders. Is this a sign of hostilities? Its now Turn 18.

Our alerts inform us that a building has been completed, units need orders given and one of them has reached a new level of experience.

I make a new contact and meet the blue faction - Mirabulus the Hat. One of this faction's units is on the very tip of one of the lava covered lands, near my ship. One of archers are given the Endurance perk, providing (+15 death and elemental resistance).

In the north-west of my domain I move a unit of warriors and archers westward. The archers get within two hexes of another band of skeleton warriors, guarding a graveyard, by some excavations (special node).

The A.I takes it's turn. The skeletons immediately move east and engage with my archers causing them some serious damage. A critical hit for (-11) points of damage. The archers retaliation is minimal, as you might expect. Sol de Torvega's goblin archers move away from my capitol to the west. Apparently on some sort of scouting mission.

Turn 19 is here. A new unit has been recruit. A new building slot is available in one of our cities. The Shadow Bolt spell has been researched, so we can choose a new one to research. As ever, our units need to be given orders.

Opening up the research panel, the new option to research is the Eagle Eye spell, which allows us to see into the fog of war. Instead I opt to discover the Lesser Weaknesses, which reduces a target units resistance. Hopefully this will allow me to reduce any tough(er) opponent my fragile skeletons come up against.

I can finally build the Mana Vault (+50% to mana produced in city) in my capitol. After this is built I will look to increase my gold making output.

The Flying Galleus appears next to my capitol and I immediately order it to the west of the kingdom for some fun and games. The three units around the enemy skeletons (in the west) are given their orders next. The wounded archers are retreated to the city of Corovallum.

My northern most warriors move to an hex adjacent to the enemy skeletons and attack. The skirmish sees both warband exchange damage. Our troops cause (-4) points, while the enemy on higher ground is able to inflict (-7). Still once I get my archers into position it will be game over. If I cannot, or the situation get hairy, I can always use more magic.

Over in the far east my skeletons have reached the capitol of Sol de Torvega. Nice to know where to send my units next!

The last action of the turn is to move my Caravelus (ship) away from the threat of the elemental guarding the mystic portal. It heads south and reveals a little more of the map. Now it is the A.I's turn.

From out of nowhere a group of evil ratmen appear near my skeleton archers near Sol de Torvega's capitol and immediately close the distance between themselves and my archers. They attack but a change my archers inflict (-10) points to health, while they score (-7).


More to follow....

[Moogel]

The diet works well as they never get fat.

Skeletons dont get fat, they have big bones.

2coats, very nice aar. eases the wait for release

[Featauril]

It sure does. Tomorrow can't come fast enough!

[Romtos]

I see this is unstickied again. Is that because nobody ever reads stickies?

[2Coats]

Skeletons dont get fat, they have big bones.
2coats, very nice aar. eases the wait for release

Thanks... more to come in a bit!

It sure does. Tomorrow can't come fast enough!

Actually with each passing second it does!

i see this is unstickied again. Is that because nobody ever reads stickies?

10/10! :d

[2Coats]

Geludurum we have a problem... to the south!
<Geludurm twinned with Houston>

In turn 20, to the west we meet a unit of green flying bats from a new faction.... orange comprising of the monster race. They are led by the leader Empress. I ignore any attempts to parley. In terms of other alerts I have a building slot open in one of my cities and six units awaiting orders.

I order my warriors in the west to cause damage to group of enemy skeletons archers. Those which are unharmed, to keep any casualties they will inflicted as lower as possible. They exceed the (-5) points we expected to cause and retreat further west, remaining near to the green bats. I also take the opportunity to rest my wounded archers next to the city of Corovallum.

To the far south my caravellus continues to discover new lands and something a little worrying. On an outcrop of land to the south-east, a massive army stands belonging the the blue faction. Warriors, rangers and “most-likely” summoned imps are amassed... but what for!?

What is more worrying however is that on closer inspection they seem to have been upgraded with the Fine Armor perk. This is only available when a Smithy building has been completed in a city. Any units can then be assigned this perk, through the upgrade feature (the upward arrow next to the unit portrait, bottom left of the screen). It can be purchased for a cost of 30 gold, for any unit.

It is probably a good idea not to upset the blue faction! <gulp>

I find that my 2^nd city, Lichton has reached a new level in terms of population and has a free building slot. Given that my gold income per turn is now in red, I decide to build a Market. This will be ready in 3 turns and then provide an additional income of 4 gold. Until then spending sprees are out. It will also allow me to build the craftsman's district (more gold) and bat forts (defensive tower).

To the east, my archers finish off the last of the neutral ratmen unit and await further orders. In the west I order my Flying Galleus to move towards the fighting past Corovallum and let the A.I. have it's turn.

Sol de Torvega (yellow) continues to move his units on scouting missions in the east. In the west, Empress (orange) unleashes a good sized force on the hapless skeleton archers. From out of nowhere we have our first sight of a healer unit, the monster faction's - Shamans. Healers belong to the caster class of unit. They appear from beyond the veil of war and destroy their target with ease with a blast of (life) magic. The remaining neutral skeleton warriors retreated to the south-west, beyond the full weight of orange's attacks. So begins Turn 21.

Alerts appear only for units that need orders. I immediately set my warriors to finish off the remaining neutral skeletons warriors. They just don't quite manage it. Though they reach a new level of experience. The three perks I have to choose from Perceptive (+1 xp/turn), Elemental Resistance (+15 elemental/death defence) and turtle (+20 melee defence). This time I choose turtle, given as most of the foes we have encountered are using melee or missile attack against our troops.

Next I move the Flying Galleus to an adajecnt hex and finish off those damaged skeletons and proceed to rest two more damaged units. One in the east and one next to Corovallum.

Finally I move my Caravelus in the south to an undiscovered shipwreck, acquiring a further 40 gold. That should keep my economy 'afloat' for a number of turns, until the market is built in Lichton.

The A.I. takes its turn. Apart from Sol de Torvega moving his units north and south of my capitol, it is all quiet in Ardania.


More to follow...

[lordreaven448]

On second thought.......I'd say ignore that Island to your south. Don't want to make blue mad going there.

[2Coats]

On second thought.......I'd say ignore that Island to your south. Don't want to make blue mad going there.

I should have listened to you....

A War on 2fronts!

Turn 22 begins with four alerts. A new building can be chosen, a new spell can be researched, two buildings have been built and our units are sitting idle waiting for orders.

From the list of available spells we can choose: Eagle eye to increase the sight range of a unit, range resistance which increases defence against missiles, melee resistance, or two summon spells. One for imps and one for ghost wolves. I'm really tempted to go for the summon ghost wolves, but opt to go for range resistance. This will be great in terms of attacking those enemy cities.

To the south I send my lone ship quickly westward to scout out anything of interest that may be lurking there. I discover another mystic portal, our third one. It is guarded, as you might expect by a Greater Earth Elemental, with the perks Body of Stone (multiple high resistances and immunity to death magic) and recon specialist (+1 sight)

A unit of werewolves are also present with perks of sharp tooth (+30 melee), spirit claws (+50 spirit magic) and beast (-25 missile, > defence in forests, + attack% in forests), Regeneration (+8 wound recovery), sharp tooth (+?? melee).

A mana vault was made in the capitol and a market is constructed in Lichton. I rest my wounded units. Those that do not require rest are set to defend, ready for orders next turn. I let the A.I have its turn.

Empress (Orange) retreats one of its units to the west and it disappears from view. It keeps its shamans and one other unit where they rested. Sol de Torvega (yellow continue to moves its forces away from my capitol. As the turn is about to end, a group of flying serpents launches a ranged attack on my ship to the south. I hope its not fatal.

It is now Turn 23. In the west I begin to move my skeleton archers south to cement more space for city building. I leave my warriors to rest for another turn. My ship in the southern seas I move northwards back towards my realm. My Flying Galleus moves further west over the sea, searching for hidden booty. None is found however. It is the A.I.'s turn.

It had to happen... [and I don't have a screenshot] but a group of flying serpents, perhaps the same ones, attack my ship and set it ablaze. It sinks to a watery death! [Ed: surely that should be undeath? 2C: No death. Its already undead! Ed: Then maybe that should be un-undeath!?! 2C: Ah... I see your point. I'm getting confused now! Ed: Answers on a postcard as what is the correct term to use for an undead unit to be er...., dead!]

In an unseen development, Sol de Torvega demands some of our gold. After all that effort spent searching for loot, Ill be dipped in egg and covered in breadcrumbs if I'm going to give out any of my treasure without a fight! So WAR it is!!!

Turn 24 dawns and I have a problem. The bulk of my army is on the west. I need to get them to the east sharply. As it is, I attack sole Torvegan unit of goblin archers with my own skeleton archers. They score and nominal (-5) points. They go up a level and I award them the Marksman perk (+20 missile). I decide to move up my warriors on defensive duty from my capitol, to see if they can finish job. They can't, only managing to reduce the enemy to ½ of it's hit-points. I move my units in the west towards the east.

A market is completed in Corovallum. I then decide to recruit a further two skeleton warriors and one skeleton archer in the capitol. They will be completed entirely in six turns. During the A.I. phase Torvega's archers retreat into the sea. It too it seems, possesses a harbor somewhere in his kingdom.

Turn 25 is upon us. Again only units need orders given. In the west I continue to move most of my units eastward. Though some, including my Flying Galleus are moving southward – to test the waters and see what is beyond the fog of war in these parts. Back in the east, my archers let fire a volley of arrows, scoring (-5) damage and sinking the enemy unit to the bottom of the sea. Keep in my that land-based units are much more susceptible to attack when being transported over water.

My Flying Galleus continues its voyage to the south-east. Revealing a number of unaligned rogues awaiting my forces further west. This is not good.

The A.i. begins it's turn. Those rogues I just mentioned must have been raring to go. They come out fighting along with an earth elemental, causing (-10) damage to one of my units. They are followed up by another unit of skeletons who cause and more rogues as they damage it, almost to the point of elimination.

It is now Turn 26 and we are fighting a war on two fronts. I need to withdrawn the units in the west very, very quickly and hope they are not followed into the heart of my realm, or we could be in trouble.

At least however, we have a new skeleton warrior unit ready in the capitol and a new building slot has opened up. I click on this alert and am sent to Lichton. There I build a mana farm to increase production in that resource. I also manage to move all my units in the west, within the borders of Lichton. These include two warriors and an archer. Only my Flying Galleus is now present in the west (over water). In the east I have two archers an warrior, within two or three turns of Torvega's (yellow) capitol. My only hope is a quick capture of this city.

My last action (before the game is released) , is to move my Flying Galleus north-east, to avoid the neutral marauders and get it to where it is needed.

The A.I. has its turn, but only the rogues and elemental of neutral faction in the west move..... to the west. I breathe a sigh of relief. For the moment.


More to follow...

EDIT: Please leave unstickied until further notice

[2Coats]

This means war....!

Turn 27 begins with the construction of a new Craftsman's district in our 3^rd city Corovallum. When complete this will give us a much need +4 gold per turn. I rest a single unit near to Lichton and fortify continue to move the Flying Galleus to the east.

I move my army of 2x warriors and 2x archers towards Torvega's capitol. Its the A.I.s turn.

And what a turn... don't forget to breathe out!

The A.I moves a few units around its capitol to defend it and summons some imps. About a ½ dozen in total. It then attacks my lead most warriors for (-7) and (-13) damage, almost eliminating it and forcing it to retreat westward. The imps follow up their attack. Another two groups of imps attack my most southerly archers and cause a similar amount of damage causing it to retreat to the north-east. Another unit moves in behind it, cutting off the quickest route of retreat.

In the ocean south of my capitol's coastline, a unit from the blue faction is being transported by sea moves northwards towards our lands.

It is Turn 28. Immediately I use some archers to killing the blocking enemy unit and move my wounded archers back towards my front-lines. I rest the other wounded units on this front and then call in some artillery support – Ardania style.

I cast a Firestorm spell which can be cast in a single turn. It costs 90 mana, and delivers
15 points of elemental damage. Best of all however, is that it is an area-effect weapon. Perfect for the current situation! * Evil gleaming smile *

The strike cripples five of Torvega's units.

I move my Flying Galleus eastwards at max speed, but for now leave my three units around Lichton where they are, in case of unexpected events.

Its the A.I's turn and I get a message from Mirabulus the Hat (blue) demanding 77 mana, my total reserves or face the consequences. I'm not about to be bullied so... WAR it is!

Torvega (yellow) heals his troops around this capitol and moves fresh units from within the veil of war. Another set of imps and goblin archers attack my most easterly warriors and cause substantial damage. His final move is to send out another unit of imps that scores a critical inflicting (-10) hit-points, destroying the unit.

To add insult to injury, it then proceeds to launch a counter attack, damaging another of my units with a critical hit.


More to follow...

[2Coats]

The War Intensifies...

Turn 29 sees both sides catch their breath. In the east our three units against Torvega's visible four, size each other up. I consider whether to bring my contingent of four units from the west. This feels like a key moment in the game – so far.

First up my spell research is complete. Wind walking, the ability to travel through rough terrain. I choose this spell to unlock. In my capitol I add another skeleton warrior to the unit build queue and start construct on a crypt, to get the zombie unit and the Mill of Souls buildings – which will give us the exceptional ghost units.

Turning my attention back to the east, the enemy units are gathered in a very enticing formation. Time for another Firestorm spell. I have the mana 154 points of it, but after it is cast it goes down to 64. So I will not be able to use it straight away next turn.

The spell works a treat and eliminates all four of the wounded enemy units in the targeted area. I move one of my archer units to the south-west of Torvega's capitol just outside its borders, so he cannot fire at me and spot a group of goblin archers. Having used all their available action points I am forced to bring another group of archers right behind them. They fire causing (-10) hit-points of damage.

I decided to give up on restraint and sent three units from the west to the east. Torvega (yellow) must die. I move 1x warrior, 1x archer and my flying galleus as fast I can to join my units in the east.

A mana farm is built in Lichton. A craftsman's guild is built in Corovallum. With that, the end of my turn arrives.

Visible A.I. actions begin with the construction of a standard tower in the south-east most hex of its capitol. Three units of archers race forth from behind the fog of war to the east of Torvega's capitol. They cause damage against my lead archers. Enough so that when two additional goblin spearmen appear, they are able to eliminate one them very easily.

Turn 30 arrives with the creation of a valuable unit of skeleton archers next to the capitol. I move up my forces from my west to the east. They now number four with this new addition. I use a combination of attacks from my remaining archers in the east, to get in a reprisal on one of the wounded enemy units who is destroyed. My reinforcements are now within touching distance of my beleaguered front-line on the Torvegan front!

As I do not have enough mana to cast another Firestorm spell, I choose instead to blast an enemy unit with a deadly Shadow Bolt consuming it with death magic. To the south a unit of flying serpents are flying towards our capitol.

Turn 31 begins with the situation looking a little more stable.


More to follow....

(there will be two more posts of this size, then one off posts of interesting events + summaries where I can manage it!)

[2Coats]

The battles continues...

The war continues as I move up a unit of skeleton warriors from the rear of my front line and heavily damage the only foe visible to my army. The attack causes (-4) damage and a critical hit. It is just under what is required to eliminate the imps.

I then move up the rest of my forces, but they fall short of entering Torvega's domain. I manage to reveal two sets of goblin archers just outside our enemy's capitol. Together with the newly built fort, and a lack of mana to use the Firestorm spell, this has put our plan of conquest on the backburner.

I decide to cast a Shadow Bolt on one of the enemy archers and cause a critical hit of (-14) hit-points. Not enough to kill it though. The only unit in the west is set to defend.

On the A.I.'s turn, it musters its forces for another attack causing a nominal amount of damage against one of my warrior units. The two units that were visible are rested and regain around (+7) health each. Mirabulus the Hat's (blue) seaborne unit reaches the coast at a point between both my forces and Torvega's (yellow) front-line.

A dual-pronged attack by enemy archers and the enemy fort... wait that's not a fort. That's a magic tower! They can attack at a range of three hex. This time it causes critical damage to two of my units. One is hit for (-14) from the tower and (-4) from the enemy archers. My flying galleus gains a level of XP.

It is now turn 32. Two units have gone up a level (inc. the galleus). A quest to build a farm has failed. No penalties are received. A new building (crypt) has been erected in my capitol, which means the zombies can be recruited. Five units stand idle waiting to receive new orders.

Again I choose to go on the offensive, targeting their archers. One unit is destroyed in the process another suffers two attacks and takes (-6) and (-5) hit-points reducing it's health to less than half of it's original. With my final unit of skeleton archers, I target the enemy tower and manage to score a critical inflicting (-9) of damage.

I give my flying galleus the Armoured Panels perk, which gives it (+30 to melee resistance). Everywhere else it is quiet. It is now the A.I.'s turn.

Mirabulus the Hat (blue) lands rangers right in the middle of battle-lines between my forces and Torvega's. Empress initiates parley and demands 50 gold... all my reserves or there will be war. Sheesh... why should they be any different war it is then. War from all sides. There is only one thing to say... * crumbs *

Torvega moves his only visible unit east, away from my forces. A wise move seeing as it was almost dead. It sends a group of rats (creatures) and attacks my most easterly warriors. They exchange blows. The warriors receive (-3) and the rats take (-8) in damage. His final move is to use his magic tower against the flying galleus, which is almost fatal for the flying boat!

We begin Turn 44. The population in two cities has grown enough to allow the construction of new buildings. We have received a new quest, an enemy is now within range of one of my cities. Six units require new orders.

The quest reveals itself to be one of finding and killing a unit of bears. They are to be found just north of my third city (Corovallum). These are the unfriendliness in range of my city defences. On successful completion of the quest we will receive +120 gold. If we fail, we will forfeit -20 gold. The city defences attack and cause a nominal amount of damage on the bears. Perhaps though I will be lucky and not have to divert any forces to kill these animals. If I must I have my unit of warriors to the south.

In Lichton I decide to build a Craftsman's guild to increase my gold revenue by +3 per turn. In Corovallum I build a Mana Farm to receive a further +4 mana per turn.

This time I cast a lesser shadow bolt on the rangers (blue) causing a further amount of damage (-8) hit-points. There was not enough mana for a full one. I chose the rangers as they are the only unit in visible range at max health. I will focus on the tower in a bit.

A group of skeleton warriors then move in and finish off the rangers and take up position in the previously enemy occupied hex. I assign the Dodge (+20 melee resistance) perk to a unit of archers. I rest another unit of archers. Not because I needed to, but because I want them at full strength next turn.

I move my other band of warriors next to the magic tower ready to attack. Before that I notice that it has a debuff (perk) next to it's portrait. I click on it to remove the spell... [Ed: er.... should you be able to do that?] They attack and cause minor damage.

Its the A.I.'s turn now. A new faction (green) is sported in the south as a flock of green bats fly past. Torvega's tower shoots at my flying galleus. Looks like it won't be ready to use next turn after all. The city of Corovallum is attacked by those pesky bears. I estimate however, that I probably will not need my warriors to rescue the city. I should be able to use the city defences to eliminate these creatures, as long as they stay in range of my city's defences.


More to follow...

[2Coats]

A Last Hurr-argh.....!

Turn 34. A new Great Mage, Nicholas Frost was encountered. I attempted to discuss a non-aggression treaty. Despite offering all my gold and mana, he did not agree to it.

So I turn my attention to combat, clicking on the Enemy-At-Gates alert and reducing the quest target bears, by an additional (-5) hit-points. The health bar turns from green to yellow. If I had to estimate it will probably take two more attacks to kill these creatures and gain the reward.

I return my focus to the east and my frontline with Sol de Torvega (yellow). It's about time I I regrouped and led a decisive charge right into the heart of his capitol. This will give up the benefit of any other cities he has built, turning neutral and becoming easy pickings, at a time of my choosing.

My first task is to see my almost dead flying Galleus (1) hp retreat far to the rear, in order to rest and recover in safety. I now have 2x skeleton warriors and 3x skeleton archers situated around the enemy's west-most tower. I decide to attack it.

An initial attack by archers causes (-7) damage and results in the unit gaining a level of experience. A further attack by another group of archers causes an additional (-6) damage. Next I select a group of warriors and charge them into the tower. They cause (-6) more damage, receive (-4) themselves and level the magic tower with two hit-points. So I am forced to use the last of my archers to eliminate this defensive structure once and for all. Their attack prediction shows they will likely cause (-8) points of damage and my archer will receive none. More than enough to eliminate our target.

Torvega still has a group of imps on his capitol hex, so I will have to get rid of them as I attack the capitol. Decisions.... decisions...

Now it is the A.I.'s tun. Nicholas Frost (green) moves a group of green bats behind my enemy lines, obviously scouting the area. Sol de Torvega attacks Frost's bats, with a group of wounded archers! Relief maybe for us!?!


I spoke too soon. The imps rush forth from his frontline and attack my lead-most warriors. They score an impressive (-13) vs (-4). Crap, they must be souped up. My warriors are eliminated! Damn, I spoke too soon! To further irritate me, the bears in the west attack Corovallum causing nominal damage.

It is now Turn 35. No time to waste. I rest my flying galleus. Hopefully it will be able to join in the attack in three or four turns.

I use the archers that gained a perk in the previous turn to attack Torvega's super-imps. They cause a critical hit for (-11) hit-points. The enemy unit is gone. Poooow!!! Take that!

I move another group of archers into the hex vacated by the imps and launch an attack on Torvega's capitol. The volley score (-7). My final archers target what is left of the enemy goblin archers and score enough damage to finish it off. My warriors move up to the capitol and carry on the attack with purpose. Behind the capitol, I send a Lesser Shadow Bolt against another group of imps that have appeared. Scoring near 50% casualties. It now the A.I.'s turn once more.

Nicholas Frost (green) moves his green bats towards Torvega's capitol. Torvega (yellow responds by annihilating these bats with attacks from unseen units. * Bugger * He follows this up by sending a group of goblin spearmen and a unit of Stubborn Knights into the main host of my force. The knights shatter my lead warriors, the only units able to soak up damage with a tremendous critical scoring (-18). The goblins attack a group of archers and come off worse taking (-6) for (-4) against the skeleton archers. Another group of Imps into the capitol, while those injured by the shadow bolt circumvent the front line, switching from the northern flank to the southern flank.

We now enter Turn 36. We can research a new spell, use the city defences against our bear quest targets, receive a new quest, upgrade a unit's perk and check out a newly constructed building. It is a mana farm in Corovallum.

The quest requires to build a farm for which we will receive 70 gold. We choose the newly available spell – lesser heal, as we do not have that spell capability yet. I attack the wandering bears with my city defences scoring enough to wipe them out! Gaining 110 gold in the process. For one of my remaining archer units I choose the Sniper perk, which increases the Unit Power by 1.

However the heart of my assault force has been ripped out. I decide we must withdrawn and abandon the assault. I move my remaining forces west!

The A.I gets its turn. Nothing visible happens. I guess it is just another lull in the storm.

Turn 37 begins. It is all quiet on the eastern front....

Thats the official end of this AAR but,... I will continue short posts as my game continues. These will be summarizing in nature, not as detailed as those above.

A big thank you for taking the time to read this meagre effort. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have writing it.

Now its time to go and play the game.... not read about it!


















You still here!?!

Go on... shooo.... away with you....

[Romtos]

You still here!?!

Go on... shooo.... away with you....

I know this is just a cry for us to hang around.

[2Coats]

I know this is just a cry for us to hang around.

No... seriously... stop reading this and get back to playing the game!

BTW: this is now played on from the point of the new patch 1.1.1.26.

Three turns in and my surviving forces staggered back to my capitol. Unfortunately for me the enemy followed led a group of Stubborn Knights. The AI Great Mage keeps summoning those bloody imps! If I hadnt of been able to rest my troops before they caught up, it would have been game-over.

In the end I had enough mana to cast another firestorm to weaken their attack and allow my units to mop up the remnants.

Its always the way... just when I had to stop full updates, the game gets exciting!

[Falc]

I don't have a postcard...

Redead should be a valid term for dead undead

[2Coats]

I don't have a postcard...
Redead should be a valid term for dead undead

Super! Congrats you are hereby awarded 5 2Coaties (points).... maybe one day they will be worth something!

Just one turn more and...

Well if you can beat them, join 'em, is what they say. I decide to learn the Summon Imps spell, upgrade my 3rd city. The struggle to stop Sol de Torvega (yellow) from taking my capitol goes well, as I tip the balance of unit numbers near the fist city to my advantage. However, during the A.I's next turn, Torvega is seen casting a spell on a nearby "possible" island. So perhaps this distraction will give me the opportunity to rally my troops, destroy his forces and counter-attack his capitol. Seizing it once and for all.

However..... just when things seemed to be looking up..... a (blue) fleet arrives.... maybe I shouldnt have attacked that lone unit a few turns ago!

[2Coats]

The fleet from Mirabulus The Hat (blue) is easily extinguished with the help of some magic. With the last of Torvega's assault force (yellow) dispatched, I settle in for a few turns of rest for my damaged units and the chance to build my first zombie unit. Zombies are good damaging soaking units.. so think tanks.

After gaining a gold mine, a bat fort and Mill of Souls (soon I will be able to summon ghosts) I find my kingdom in good shape resource-wise. A few stragglers from (blue) turn up on my coastline, but I use my archers and my capitol's defenses to eliminate these easily enough. Around turn 44 I begin to move my forces towards their goal - Torvega's (yellow) capitol. Now its my turn to go on the offensive.

And I do clearing out around 4 units with a Firestorm spell with mana I stored up over the last five turns. This allows me to strike my first hits against the city proper.
Will Sol de Torvega be able to recruit fresh goblins or summon any more imps?

More to follow...

[Raisuli]

Cool AAR. You cover the gameplay well, it's a good read. I'm really enjoying this game quite a bit - started with the demo, which I played through the 50 turns 3 different times before I realized I had to get the game. If we get enough activity on the forum, maybe we could start doing something like a Game of the Month like on that Civ site? Everyone start with the same save and see who can get the fastest victory of the various kinds?