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

[2Coats]

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?

Thanks. Its means alot to hear it's being read & enjoyable! Its even better to hear that you are enjoying the game moreso!

As for the rolling interactive game/AAR - thats a superb idea. You or someone like-minded should perhaps start it and hopefully it will take-off. Bear in mind that when the game first released there was a huge amount of activity. Now I think that people are either playing or waiting for modding & multi-player, to take the game to the next level. So hopefully that could be a fresh source where that idea may fit in rather well!

Heres the next mini-update...

Three turns on and Sol de Torvega's capitol is almost mine. Queue evil laughter. Do the undead even laugh!? I guess it probably involves an element of enamel chomping teeth clatter..... [Ed: Eh!? Im confused!]
All it took were several waves of attacks from my forces with magic support against his units (yellow). Gold and Mana revenue is great, but food income needs to be upgraded. This is probably because I built a Laborotorium and a mana farm, rather than more resource producing buildings. There were very few units other than what can be seen in the screen above present in the attack, but his ability to call on 2x Stubborn Knights delayed what should have been my victory over this faction.

Three turns more and Sol de Torvega reign on Ardania is over. In terms of relationships with other Great Mages I am at war with Empress (orange) to the west and Mirabulus The Hat (blue) to the south. I have yet to meet the red faction. I also managed to gain the additional spell of Summon Ghost Wolves. That with my ever growing pool of mana means I will be able to call about a good number of these temp units, if and when the situation requires it.

More to follow...

[2Coats]

Madruid and the capability it confers on us to build monster faction buildings and units is ours! This will be a great boon as we strike to expand our kingdom, given the delay in quashing Sol de Torvega. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe this is the same A.I.... I used to splat very easily. Though that was starting off playing as the Human faction.

With the capitol taken it's tower crumbles to dust. All its units turn neutral and I dispatch those that have remained within the city limits over the course of the next few turns. The Stubborn Knights proves the toughest nut to crack but in the end, two more units go up a level (to 2). Over the course of the next few turns, my forces rest and recover from their casualties. While in two cities a Smithy and Fishing Village are built. The village will provide much need food, taking up back into positive income. The Smithy will allow me to purchase perk upgrades for some of my units.

From the south, the occasional units from the blue faction continue to probe by capitol, though with the aid of my green bats and some magic, I am able to easily deal with them on the high seas. One such unit is a group of Cutthroats, the 1st upgrade of Rogue units. These possess a nasty bite.

On one occasion, one of Miraulus the Hat's (blue) forces arrives from the east, by sea. Managing to land next to the recently captured city of Madruid. Its Great Mage even casting its own Firestorm spell at the heart of my forces around the city. Damage and mayhem ensues. Forcing me to post-pone my scouting missions to the east and south.

Its now turn 55 and we are ready to begin the next phase of the campaign...

More to follow...

[2Coats]

My forces are gathered and sent to the north and south of my newest city Madruid. A new rival faction (green) is found to the south and a neutral city (Gravegloom) probably the remnants of Sol de Torvega's kingdom, is discovered to the north. The bulk of my forces are already amassed in the east. They are sent to attack the neutral city. Except for two units that have scouted the south. The neutral city has two units of Stubborn Knights providing protection. They smash one of my archer units and severely injure a few more, before a stalemate ensues because I was able to use Shadow Bolt to weaken then enough.

Construction on a Mana Vault is begun in Corovallum. My two scouts in the south discover two large cities (green) with some towers protecting them. Since we are not at war yet, I decide to keep these units on their scouting mission. However since these cities are very near to Madruid it will curtail the amount of land we have to available for expansion, thereby proving a point of contention at some time in the future. I decide to recruit settlers in the west and populate that area available to me there, as there are no points of contentious there.

I begin to research the Wind-walking spell, which I hope will allow me to send my powerful units (when I get them) over harsh terrain, making my low movement undead troops that much faster in the attack. At least for the units that I can cast this on.

By Turn 59, Maribulus the Hat sends another naval task-force to the shores of my capitol. Though much smaller than before. Again I am able to use a little magic, the cities defensive capabilities and my lone green bat units to sink them before they can land their forces. I then fail a quest to build a city - though receive no penalty points. Wary of any more threats from the sea/south, I decide to build a Magic Tower on the coast, within the borders of Licthon. Between it and the capitol. With the fighting outside of Gravegloom, a couple more units go up a level and both are awarded the Forced March perk which increases movement by one. For the slow moving undead this is vital.

Next turn I have ready Skeleton Settlers in Corovallum. The most westerly of my cities. This unit is moved to the west to a point between iron and excavation sites. There are no really great city location spots. At least any nearer.

The (green) A.I casts a Firestorm against Mirabulus' (blue) city, south of its two cities. Damage is unseen.

By turn 61, the final unit of Stubborn Knights is dispatched and the neutral city is open to our forces. Will they be able to take the city???

More to follow...

[2Coats]

* Played with the latest patch - buld 1.1.3.28 *

The attack against Gravegloom continues. Shadow bolts and a combination of attacks by undead units are used to slowly whittle down the defending knights health, until the city defences are all that is left. I decide that now is the time to build our first unit of Ghosts, in our capitol - Geludurum, as I continue our limited offensive against Mirabulus (blue. The Magic Tower fires its long range weapons at an enemy group of imps across the way, eliminating the threat.

Gravegloom falls eventually (turn 63) after then last unit of Stubborn Knights is dispatched. When the city is taken however, the building that allows for these units to be created is destroyed in the ensuing melee. We are lucky though and get the chance to rebuild it immediately. To the south one of my scouting units attacks some of the Mirabulus' forces (blue) attacking the city of Goddale (green). It does not fair so well.

A goblin guild is built in the captured city of Madruid and a gang of Goblin Robbers recruits. These are moved to the west, in preparation for operations to wage war on any hostiles in that region. Eventually I am forced to retreat the lead scouting groups in (green's) territory as (blue's) forces continue their build-up against the city of Goddale. Unfortunately too late it seems - as Mirabulus unleashes a magical Firestorm against the city and one of my units caught to near the city's centre. It is eliminated. These firestorm attack continue for the next two turns as Mirabulus turns on the screws.

Over the course of these turns a number of low level units go up in experience and I choose (attack) perks for archers and (resistance) perks for warriors types. After the great effort in capturing Gravegloom (neutral < yellow) I rest the bulk of my forces and begin to send them in twos towards the west of my kingdom to begin expansion in that region. By Turn 65, a new city - Deadwood is founded in the far west, near two some Iron and Excavations, but also near to Empress' (orange) domain.

We are at war and so sends out some units to introduce themselves! I hope we can keep them at bay with magic and defensive attacks, until my forces arrive to help out. Nicholas Frost (green) demands 58 mana to stay at peace with me and continue to deflect the bulk of (blues) offensive manoeuvres from the south. I decline... it seems no one wants to be our friends! Well good - 2can play at that!

More to follow...

[loki100]

well you've done a good job here in explaining the game ... it looks rather fun

[2Coats]

well you've done a good job here in explaining the game ... it looks rather fun

Thank you sir. I have tried my best. Its not been the best of games, thats for sure. But I find Undead to be the least best to play & the map to be rather dull, compared to some of the other games Ive played. Esp. during the beta.

Sorry for the delay, its been a busy couple of weeks. Its late on Saturday night... another hard days slog. All thats left to do is upload another short update.
Happy Warlocking...

During Turn 66, a new quest is received, one that will require a temple to the great god Krolm to be erected at an appropriate holy site. The relations of +10 and a group of Kolm's Housecarls being made available is good enough incentive for me. However, two problems exist. One we dont have a holy site under our control. Nor are our relations with this god high enough. We at least have 30 turns to change these circumstances.

Our new city of Ghostwood is attacked by Empress. She sends a group of vampires and summons another group of ghost wolves to conquer this easy target. I must get my forces there quickly. While vampires are immune to death magic, they are susceptible to life and spirit magic. Unfortunately undead armies do not have units with those attack abilities by default. They can be gained through perk or spell buffs, nor do I have any spells that cause these types of damage. So I will have to rely on using elemental magic and hope I can whittle enough of them away in time to save my city. Ghost wolves on the other hand can be attacked by death magic, so whatever units I can assemble should be used to these first. A Firestorm does little damage to either unit when cast. So I begin to send virtually every unit in the east to this new front. The building of Stubborn Knights becomes available in Gravegloom, the last city conquered in the east. As yet though I do not have the funds to take advantage of this good news. Across the waters further to the east, I send my flying caravaleus to explore the unknown depths.

Empress then moves her two units and attack my city and my unit of Green Bats, the closest forces I have to defending the city. The city remains is taken too easily, but the bats remain unscathed as Empress focuses all her offensive capabilities against the city. To the south however more woe befalls my advancing forces, as a group of rogues and undead hammer my goblin spearmen into the ground. What a miscalculation on my part.

Its Turn 67 and the enemy has control of my city. I immediately send a Bolt of death magic onto the ghost wolves, hoping that I may be able to sneakily move my bats into the city this turn. The spell works a treat, but leaves enough of the unit intact so that my bat attack isn't strong enough to take out the defenders. I continue to move forwards the bulk of my forces, hoping that I can at least whittle down Empress' forces (orange) before I launch my main offensive.

To the south and south-east of the capitol Mirabulus the Hat (blue) continues to transport the odd army across the sea, but between my capitol's defences and the magic tower none get through. My flying caravelus on the other hand has reached a position to find the west most point of Empress' domain. This could be interesting. Finally I choose to learn Elemental Resistance spell - +protection against elemental attacks.

Empress continues her attacks against my approaching forces. This time however with my ghosts in the front line, there is a stalemate between the two sides. Is this the sign of things to come? Or the portents of our luck changing?

More to follow...

[2Coats]

...It must be Christmas!

Turn 68 and we begin this turn by commissioning a market in the newly conquered city of Gravegloom (East). To go together with the Stubborn Knights recruitment centre. An enemy (blue) Caravellus is targeted and destroyed by my capitols defences which scored a [16]. The situation around Deadwood continues to be dire as Empress continues to control the city and with my units of bats down to near zero hitpoints. Only my ghosts are within marching distance. Though a unit of goblin spearmen are nearing the city to.

However the defending ghost wolves are almost dead to. So I send a deadly Shadow Bolt to remove their presence from my city. It works allowing my green bats to march into the settlement uncontested. A farm is built immediately as I have three or four goblin units in the build queue across the other side of my domain.

I send the goblin spearmen to attach the vampires causing only minimal casualties. Unfortunately I do not have the cash to buy some upgrade perks for my units. Thats what happens when you carelessly lose the first echelon of units in defence of your realm. To the far east I withdrawn my flying galleus back into the sea, to avoid any missile strikes from the forces arranged on Empress' (oranges) coastline.

All my hard-work is undone however by an efficient double strike that removes the goblin spearmen guarding Deadwood and the nearby green bats, both of which had low health.

Turn 69 sees the bulk of my forces at least two turns away from the conflict raging in the west. Only my ghosts are in a position to retake the city, but as they only inflict death damage, it is useless against the reinforced undead units of Empress (orange). Most of these have at least half a dozen perks already and the vampires have six or more. Most generals would consider this an unfair fight. However with magic as our ally all is not lost. Time to bring the rain!

With enough mana to spare, another firestorm is targeted at the hub of Empress' forces around Deadwood. A marvellous amount of damage drops down onto four enemy units, with the skeleton units suffering the most harm. While the flying caravellus moves south over water, exploring the ocean, all available units move from east to west, bar one. A single undead unit is left in the city of Madruid, (Sol de Torvegas old capitol) just in case. I still do not possess enough coins to purchase upgrade perks for my units.

Left breathless from the attack spell, Empress' fails to take initiative, deciding to conjure another group of ghost wolves to the north of Corovallum and move her vampires and the remnants of the skeleton units to the south of Deadwood.

Turn 70 commences with an enemy caravellus from Mirabulus (blue) targeted by my capitols defences and sent beneath the waves. I take the opportunity to build tax offices in Lichton and a market in Deadwood (as the farm is was lost when the city changed hands). Though outnumbering my rivals, I am outgunned, so I summon a group of imps in the hope they will soak up any initial damage the enemy decides to confer on my troops. Working in conjuction with Deadwoods defences I use them to immediately to finish off a group of enemy skeletons. Leaving only a unit of vampires and ghost wolves visible from the enemy's army.

That does not last long however, as Empress' reveals her hand in the final moments of this turn.

More to follow...

[2Coats]

Turn 71 and the city of Deadwood in the far west of the kingdom is surrounded by 3 units of skeleton archers or warriors, a group of summoned spirit wolves and two units of dreaded vampires. Defending the city is a group of zombies, nearby a group of ghosts, together with a unit of summoned imps. To the east, in the city of Corovallum two units of skeleton archers are in position to provide support in the upcoming attack.

In the capitol a barracks is ordered constructed in order to upgrade the abilities of archer and melee units. Valuable as I doubt we will ever be able to field the same numbers as the A.I factions. Money's short so enlisting more units is not possible. At least not for the stronger unit types like ghosts and zombies.

The vampires between Deadwood and Corovallum soak up the attack from the city and the two skeleton archers. I decide to attack the two nearest units around Deadwood and injure a group of skeleton warriors and destroy the summoned wolfies... scoring a few level-ups for both units. With Empress' units moving up in a tight formation from the west, I unleash another Firestorm causing mass damage against all five units caught in the ferocious downpour, completing destroy one wounded unit. The vampires however remain near full health.

During the A.I. phase Empress' has a few surprises in store for me. Sending an army of nine... 9... NINE units against my 3 units around Deadwood. * Where's the white flag? * Luckily only a few of them finish in a position to attack and do not cause much damage. Additional help comes in the form of attacks by unaligned units to the south. Thank heaven for small mercies. A new unit of summoned ghost wolves appears to the north of Corrovulum.

Turn 72 and we are in control of all six of our cities. I summon my own group of ghost wolves and conduct simultaneous attacks against this isolated enemy unit. Several critical hits removes it from the field of battle. A new unit of goblin spearmen appears in the eastern city of Madruid, and is immediately moved west to the frontline.

On the western front, it is tempting to cast another firestorm against the massed formation of enemy units, but with not enough mana, I have to settle for other options. Ice ring while tempting, to damage enemy forces around the unit it is bestowed upon, would not be enough in the current circumstance. Therefore I look to summon another unit of moderately powerful ghost wolves. The downside is that it will take two turns. Since my summoned imps where damaged I retreat them to the rear and hope they can survive to recover hit-points next turn. I rearrange my zombies and ghosts within the limits of Deadwood city and await the enemy's seemingly overwhelming attack.

To the far East (on the other border of Empress' domain) my flying galleus continues it mission over the sea and meets a transport ship from another enemy faction, firing at it and sending it to a watery grave.

The enemy has its own turn now and as expected its sends its army of superior numbers against the protectors of Deadwood. Two lone zombie and ghost units. They take a hell of a pounding. Hit after hit. Their life-force takes is reduced.

Will they survive the next turn?


More to follow...

[loki100]

tense stuff, even if the Empress seems to rely pretty much on brute force

[2Coats]

tense stuff, even if the Empress seems to rely pretty much on brute force

It was. Ive not played on many small(er) maps, but I think given the difference in map sizes, the AI appears to concentrate their forces more. Which if you think about it is a given. Less space to cover. Less objectives to capture.

Turn 73. We were fortunate in that I had the right forces in position for that volume of attacks. The zombies were able to soak up the majority of damage, leaving the others to take minor hits. However we must not reduce the enemy's number of will to fight by causing an enormous amount of harm, otherwise we will be overrun. Of this I have no doubt.

Unfortunately the zombies will not take any part in the forthcoming battle so I withdrawn them to Corrovallum and expect to rest them next turn and beyond. I decide to move my newly summoned and untouched ghost wolves to a position to the west of Deadwood. Here they can attack a group of enemy skeletal warriors. However when they reach their intended spot, the situation looks back with around a ratio 1:1 casualties for both sides. The reason for this is that the enemy unit is in a forest and that provides a -25% penalty to the attacker, plus an additional -25% because they also possess the cover specialist perk. Even if one of these is negated as the summoned unit possess the Forester perk. So I decide to leave them alone for now.


Unfortunately I still do not possess enough mana to can another Firestorm spell, so I decide wait it out and hope that even if I lose the city of Deadwood, I can try to seize it back quickly with help from this spell. I continue to move two units from the east to the west of my domain and let the A.I have its phase.

To my surprise Empress begins to move around half of her forces back towards her domain (to the west). Lucky me or could she be under threat from another source?

Turn 74 begins with the arrival of another goblin spearmen unit. A quest to defeat a group of roaming minotaurs who appear to the west of Deadwood, just south of Empress' forces. I check to see what recruitment options I have. Due to a lack of money, I cannot afford to build anything beyond basic land forces. Worried that my underbelly maybe exposed to an attack from across the sea, I choose to start creating a navy. I am in two minds. Should I have kept the money and waiting to add to my army, given my rivals superiority of numbers? Will I regret this decision? Hopefully not I think to myself as I continue to move the latest two goblin units from Madruid in the east to Deadwood in the west. From across the sea to the far west, my flying galleus continues to bridge the map as it makes it way to the rear of Empress' frontline.

Now the A.I takes its turn. It retreats a few on its standard units, but then performs an unexpected manoeuvre. It gathers its three vampires units in a group outside the boundary of Deadwood, destroying an unaligned enemy unit in the process, but takes a large chunk out of the quest minotaurs to their south.

It is now Turn 75 and perhaps I made a good call with the construction of my first naval unit, for an enemy caravellus belonging to Mirabulus the Hat (blue) has appeared on my coast. This time Im lucky as I have a band of goblin archers in range to attack it immediately. Which I do with haste, sending a good portion of it (-7) down to join Davey Jones.

The population of Deadwood has managed to grow, but only by the good grace of the zombie and ghost units that frightened off Empress' forces. () I decide to build a Bat Fort. The only choice really as I have to ensure that the next massed attacked by Empress' will be met by stiffer opposition. Yep more stiffer than a skeleton with frostbite!

I follow this by preparing to go on the offensive. I cast the spell - Lesser Weakness on the vampire unit nearest to Deadwood. It won't achieve much, but given I want my mana to grow next turn, it will have to do. Lesser Weakness costs 11 mana, while my reserves will go up by 12 mana. I move up all my forces that were arrayed to the east of Deadwood, to locations to the north and south of the city. Placing them on the best defensive terrain I can. They form a < shape, where the unit (a group of summoned imps) west of the city sits the west most point of the arrowhead.

Empress takes her turn, summoning another group of ghost wolves and destroying my summoned imps and moving one vampire unit towards the city. The other two retreat towards her own domain. The unaligned Minotaurs attack one of my units of goblin spearmen. Fortunately the spearmen defensive positioning lets them deal a great amount of damage onto the minotaurs, while only taking a very small amount in return.

Turn 76 commences. I choose the option to research Lesser Heal, given the current situation - we are at war with most of the know world of Ardania. I would have chosen the Harvest Blessing spell otherwise. In order to grow my cities more quickly. My navy has now come into being and not enough enough. I immediately send her into battle against the ailing caravellus from Miraibulus' fleet. One salvo and the enemy disappears beneath the sea.

Across my domain around the city of Deadwood my own forces and those of Empress' are about to lock horns on the field of battle once more.

More to follow...

[loki100]

you're lucky the AI wizards seem to be using their mana to summon, not to inflict direct damage on your units (& I do realise that in your position, 'lucky' is a very relative term)

[Gvaz]

I got this game out of a pack deal, and you're telling me it's civ 5? NEAT