Turn 21 Thread

[atul]

I drove Ermor out of the waters, though some undead ended up in qm's side. Can you handle them or should I give chase?

Abysia's still on siege, not able to storm yet. Mictlan showed up with about 40 Jag Warriors at 131 which might be able to tear a new one in my melee-only sieging army. TheDemon, any chance of cloud trapezing there for few thunderstrikes?

Sauromatia's got PD worth of like 40 or so in 254, now 3 Circle Masters at 254.

C'tis is sieging Niefel at 34, Ling need a hand?

South, no-one's been taking back the farmlands I raided from Fomoria, so I'm swimming in gold.

[lingchih]

Total defeat in the south. I am pulling back to guard my homelands. I will post more tomorrow.

The two Jarls in 273 did not attack. they just sat there. The one jarl that did attack, my best one, got slaughtered. Gotta pull back now and defend. Looks like Helheim did not do so well either.

I've been informed on IRC that I encountered the "movement bug". Well, it could not have hit at a worse time.

Oh well, I will recover. But C'tis cap is out of the question now.

And no, Atul, no need for help in 34. I can easily take out the siege army there.

[lingchih]

Wow, I am in bad shape in the south. I need to sleep on this and come back on it tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Got hit with 3 rain of toads on the cap, so no new Jarl this turn. 120 unrest.

[atul]

Well if you are hurting that bad I can also take over in south. I can reach Evo5 next turn and then have Falling Frost so that more of my mages cast offensive spells. That and hundreds of deep ones might at least give C'tis/Ermor a pause.

[Ironhawk]

Dont take this the wrong way but how does the loss of one Jarl equate to complete disaster? He was only one third of your fighting force in the area, no? I mean it hurts to lose him -- especially to a bug like this. But in the end its just a 30% loss. Werent your guys in the northern provinces the ones who had charcoal shields, too?

We will certainly need to re-evaluate our strategy for CTis once again based on these new developments. But lets not overreact and throw away the initiave in a key war just due to some current setbacks.

[lingchih]

OK, I'm a bit more coherent now, and have a handle on things. And Hawk, it was the combination of things... the Jarl loss, the cap being shut down by toads, and a huge Lankan army now next to my northern castle, that made me call the turn a disaster. No, the loss of one Jarl is not a big deal, but I have been losing one a turn now for a few turns, and it's starting to add up. Here is the situation:

https://i.servimg.com/u/f86/13/76/96/87/nief-n11.jpg

https://i.servimg.com/u/f86/13/76/96/87/nief-s11.jpg

It would appear that I am being ganged up on. What a surprise

Anyway, yes Atul, if you can break that siege for me in 34, that would be awesome. I'm moving to cut off his retreat, but as you can see, C'tis has cut a pretty good swath through Helheim, and now has another army poised on my border in 16.

My Jarls in 273 are moving back to try and help hold 14. One Jarl from 14 is moving across to 18, to cut off any C'tis retreat. Cap unrest is at 120, so one Jarl is staying home and patrolling with 14 skinshifters. Also dropped taxes in cap to 0. But if I get hit with more toads, who knows?

In the north, got a big-ass Lanka army on my castle doorstep in 127. Mostly ganas, lots of them. My castle in 106 only has a few mages in there, so the walls will fall in one turn. So, the prophet army and Jarls in 148 are moving to intercept them. No drive on Lanka for now.

So, I think I can hold pretty much... might lose that castle in the north. But all my offensive plans are derailed for now.

[Ironhawk]

I dont have too much time to post right now - need to go help a friend move. But I just took a look at my turn and want to set the record straight. There have been no unexpected losses for Helheim. My main army is completely intact and unharmed in CTis lands, just off his capital.

In my own lands, Sauro walked into the hydra ambush AGAIN and was totally massacared. 46/48 units killed -- which includes 11 (!!!!) hydras. Take a look at the Sauro army chart when you get a chance. His entire national force has been decimated. I lost all my lizard men, as expected, and all my huskarls which was unfortunate but not unsurprising given the number of hydras I was facing.

My intel on the CTis situation at a glance: CTis moved the bulk of his men AWAY from his capital to 247. That force consists of 80 runners, 20 longdead horse, 20 serpent dancers, 10 shades, and some loose change of other troops. Overall - nothing to speak off. But the fact is that they move away from his cap, leaving it even less well defended than before. Just looking at things now, I am planning on continuing the attack. With CTis spreading himself out my armies power against any single army is jumping up.

[atul]

Anyway, yes Atul, if you can break that siege for me in 34, that would be awesome. I'm moving to cut off his retreat, but as you can see, C'tis has cut a pretty good swath through Helheim, and now has another army poised on my border in 16.

Can't do it immediately 'cause I don't have troops as you probably see, but next turn I'll have the capability.

[lingchih]

I'm happy that you are doing well against the sleep walking nation of Sauromatia, Hawk.

Now, might you do something about the armies of C'tis that are walking right through you, and up to my cap?
My PD is awful, and I don't have much of it. Believe it or not, one Jarl is all that stands between a C'tis army that can kill a Jarl, and my cap.

[atul]

Ling, not enough info.

I'm in position to intercept anyone going for your capital, but need more intel than "army capable of killing a Jarl". Where, when, how many, what kind, how? That sort of stuff.

[Ironhawk]

I'm happy that you are doing well against the sleep walking nation of Sauromatia, Hawk.

Now, might you do something about the armies of C'tis that are walking right through you, and up to my cap?
My PD is awful, and I don't have much of it. Believe it or not, one Jarl is all that stands between a C'tis army that can kill a Jarl, and my cap.

Ling, I understand that you had a bad turn and are worried about the CTis raiders. But what use is there in phrasing your comments with dripping sarcasm? We're all on the same team here so lets stay positive and focus on the issues.

So - you need assistance in taking out these raiders. Ok, so what can we do? Atul said that he can lend assistance from the coast. I'm researching to Cloud Trapezee so I should be able to drop a kitted jarls onto them soon. Worst case, we divert some Seeking Arrows from Demon to pick off thier leadership. I admit that they are aggravating and potentially a threat to your cap, but we can and will deal with them.

[atul]

TheDemon, if you read this please intercept Mictlan's army at 131, either seeking arrows or thunderstrike team. Otherwise I'm facing Abysia's and Mictlan's attack on my capital sieging force simultaneously.

Thanks!

[lingchih]

Ling, not enough info.

I'm in position to intercept anyone going for your capital, but need more intel than "army capable of killing a Jarl". Where, when, how many, what kind, how? That sort of stuff.

The army in question is in 16. 30 elite warriors and falchioneers, led by a sauromancer. I have one Jarl moving into 35 to block them, but that army can unquestionably kill a Jarl.

Sorry for the sarcasm Hawk. It's what I am best at though. I had just expected that you would stop those guys before they got to my border.

[Ironhawk]

Its ok man, I know how disheartening a bad turn can be. About the raiders: no it was never my intention to stop them, only to follow in thier wake with scouts and Dis and just clean up the mess. So that overall they would have no effect. Honestly, after raiding my lands for 4 turns I made the assumption that they would simply continue to do so and head for my capital where they would just impale themselves on my Svartalf researchers. But you are right that there is no assurance that they will continue to raid me and not you.

Based on the assumption that they will not continue their drive to my capital, I've done some research and determined that I need: 1 vanjarl, 1 svartalf, and 9 helhirds to defeat them in the field. Thats done the job in every one of my tests. I can have that force ready to go at my capital this coming turn. Since the terrain is generally favorable in that area, I should be able to deploy them to a striking position the next turn.

So ling, for the meantime, I would say pull back your Jarl. There is no need to risk him yet, we only need to just endure 1 or 2 more turns of raiding before either myself or atul can place a response to them.

[Ironhawk]

https://i.servimg.com/u/f87/13/77/31/44/helhei18.jpg

Ok heres my turn pic now that I've finally had some time to sit down and look at my turn.

About the situation in CTis. While the offensive has faltered, I think we have a real opportunity here. If you look at the above pic, you can see that CTis has moved the bulk of his forces away to province 247. Presumably to cut off my retreat? That force consists of:

120 mixed runners / elite warriors, backed by sacred serpents
30 longdead horse
10 shades
20 serpent dancers
Ctis's prophet lizard king who is some kind of bizarre thug / eyeshield chasis

And while that is a dangerous force, the opportunity lies in that they are out in the field. Demon, if you are reading this and think you can defeat a force of that size with your thunderstrikers - I will then attack the CTis capital, which is now only defended by 50+ regular units and PD. I figure that if you can pin that army in the magic phase then I can scoop his capital right out from under him and we will be in a position to dictate terms on this front.

However, if you cannot cloud trap in or just need the resources elsewhere, I think I will push in and attack CTis's second fort. It will keep CTis off balance and force him to deploy armies to his backfield instead fo the frontlines. I think it like he will try to attack from 247 into my forces at 246 rather than from his fort so I should be safe from the movement bug - tho I admit it is a risk. If you guys think it is too dangerous just let me know??

Overall:
I think our top priority is still the seige of Abysia. So Demon when you are looking at how to deploy your men, thats the first thing to take care of, as atul asks earlier up in the thread. If you think you can pin the guys in CTis just let me know and I'll change my orders. Also, I'm assuming everyone's already done this but make sure to buy patrollers near your cap when the inevitable toad spam comes.

[lingchih]

Anybody heard from Demon? I know he was moving end of the week, but I thought he would be back on by now. Perhaps he has no internet access yet?

[Ironhawk]

Nobody's seen him. Moving must have been more tricky than he anticipated.

Hey quick question - do we want to hire the Master Druid? He's 2N, isnt he? Could be hired perhaps by atul to get a foothold on nature boosting?

[lingchih]

Yeah, could be a good investment, if Atul doesn't mind getting into a bidding war for him.

[atul]

I'll try to hire him, good catch.

[Sponsored content]